Festival

Bolibongkingking Festival

Religious · Loboc · May 23–24

When
May 23–24
Held
Annual
Patron saint
Our Lady of Guadalupe

Overview

The Bolibongking-king Festival (also written “Bolibong Kingking”) is an annual religious music-and-dance festival held in Loboc municipality, Bohol, on May 23–24 each year, recorded in the Bohol Provincial Tourism Office inventory of tourist attractions under the Customs & Tradition — Festivals category. It honours Our Lady of Guadalupe de Extremadura, the second patroness of Loboc, and commemorates a cholera outbreak from which the town’s people were reportedly spared through her intercession — church records date the tradition’s origin to 1843.

The festival’s name is onomatopoeic, derived directly from the sounds of the two native instruments used: “bolibong,” the beat of a two-sided drum made of goat skin (locally called the “gimbaw”), and “kingking,” the ring of a native brass gong (“agong”), struck with mallets or sticks. Devotees perform a supplication dance ritual in front of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, swaying their bodies — particularly aching parts — as an act of healing devotion or thanksgiving for petitions granted; participants range from small children to elderly pilgrims. The ritual dance itself, in interior Bohol towns like Loboc, Sevilla, and Bilar, is locally called “bong bolibong king king”; in coastal towns such as Maribojoc and Tagbilaran City the related dance tradition is instead called “basao” or “basal.”

As a cultural pageant, the festival also runs as a multi-barangay dance-drama competition, with the different villages/barangays of Loboc competing in dramatized retellings of the town’s cultural history, folklore, and traditions over the three days beginning on the feast day. In July 2025, Loboc’s Bolibongkingking-themed contingent was crowned grand champion, best in street dancing, and best in musicality at “Sandugo sa Bohol 2025: Festival of Festivals,” the provincial capital’s flagship cultural showcase.

Loboc is historically associated with the oldest choir school in the Philippines, established by Augustinian missionaries in the 17th century, and the Loboc Children’s Choir has won international recognition (including in Barcelona, Spain). The municipality is also the site of the Loboc River Cruise, one of Bohol’s highest-traffic tourism attractions.

Find places to stay across Loboc, Bohol

Location

Loboc municipality, Bohol, approximately 25 km from Tagbilaran City along the Loboc highway. The town centre (poblacion) sits along the Loboc River.

Getting There

From Tagbilaran City: approximately 45 minutes by jeepney or bus via Loay. Jeepneys for Loboc depart from the Dao terminal in Tagbilaran. Most Bohol countryside tours pass through Loboc en route to the Chocolate Hills, making the municipality accessible as a drop-off point. Travel time from Panglao Island is approximately 1 hour.

Practical Info

Held annually on May 23–24, centred on the Loboc town church/plaza area where the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is enshrined. The devotional dance itself is reported to begin around 11:00 a.m., performed after the Pontifical Mass and continuing over the following two days. No entrance fee is documented — this is a public religious and cultural festival rather than a ticketed event. Whether a trade fair or separate stage-entertainment programme runs alongside the religious observance isn’t documented online — check with the Loboc municipal tourism office or local barangay listings closer to the date for the full activity schedule.

What to Expect

A three-day observance beginning on the feast day, centred on a supplication dance performed by devotees — men, women, children, and elderly pilgrims — in front of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, to the live rhythm of “gimbaw” drums and “agong” gongs played in a 4/4 “Vivace” tempo with syncopated eighth-note patterns. Alongside the devotional dancing, Loboc’s barangays stage a competitive cultural pageant, dramatizing local history and folklore. The event draws both religious pilgrims and cultural tourists, and its associated dance-drama has represented Loboc at the provincial Sandugo sa Bohol festival circuit.

Notes

Source: BPTO Table 11 — Inventory of Tourist Attractions (Bohol Tourism Profile Eco Dev2025.pdf). Bolibong Kingking Festival | Bigwas, accessed 2026-07-17 — festival dates (May 23–24), 1843 cholera-outbreak origin, instrument names and etymology, three-day programme structure. Festival and Events 2020 - Behold Bohol (official Bohol provincial tourism site), accessed 2026-07-17 — confirms May 23–24 dates and Loboc’s choir/musical reputation. Dancing in Loboc - Philippine Daily Inquirer, accessed 2026-07-17 — describes the supplication dance ritual, its regional name variants (“basao”/“basal” on the coast vs. “bong bolibong king king” inland), and pilgrim participation. Sandugo sa Bohol: Celebrating friendship, unity, cultural fusion - Inquirer, accessed 2026-07-17 — Loboc’s 2025 grand-champion win with its Bolibongkingking-themed contingent. PRESERVING HERITAGE: BOLIBONGKINGKING BEAT OF LOBOC, BOHOL (academic paper, EPRA Journals, 2025), accessed 2026-07-17 — musicological detail: instrument names (Gimbaw, Gong), 4/4 Vivace tempo, rhythmic pattern. Tradition of ‘bolibong kingking’ lives on in Loboc, accessed 2026-07-28 — dance start time (~11 a.m.), confirms it takes place after the Pontifical Mass and continues over the following two days.

Where it happens

Plan the trip around the host town