WATCH: Liliw, Laguna Tsinelas Festival 2023
LAGUNA, Philippines — Live bands, street dancing and free bottomless Lambanog tasting awaited guests at the recently concluded Tsinelas Festival in Liliw, Laguna.
A highland municipality, Liliw rivals Marikina City in shoe production. Every April or May, the town by the foot of Mount Banahaw marks its reputation as a hub for tsinelas (slippers) production with a colorful festival.
This year's festival featured a food fair selling local produce and delicacies. Giant shoe and slipper replicas welcomed bargain hunters in front of the town's footwear stores. As in the festival's previous editions before the COVID-19 pandemic, the town's main street was garlanded with umbrellas.
The main highlight was a parade of colors from the town's different sectors and barangays. Along with marching bands, the locals participated in street dancing while drinking and giving away snacks and Lambanog or distilled coconut palm liquor, one of Laguna and neighboring Quezon's major products as among the country's top coconut producers. Most of all, their dancing drew attention to their crafty and durable Liliw slippers! — Video by Philstar.com/Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo
