WATCH: Pulilan Carabao Festival ingeniously recreated, live-streamed from home

MANILA, Philippines — A global pandemic is not enough to crush the Filipinos’ festive spirit.

The popular Pulilan Carabao Festival — where hundreds of work animals, mostly carabaos, parade the streets of the Bulacan municipality to honor patron saint San Isidro Labrador — was able to push through in the form of a “crafty,” virtual celebration where hundreds of miniature figures were manually animated and broadcast live on social media.

Pulilan local Jimwell Tocjayao posted the real-time spectacle on Facebook earlier this afternoon, with the miniature parade since being liked, shared and viewed thousands of times in just hours.

“Good news! On behalf of the Tocjayao Family, I am proud to present to all Pulileños the amazing artworks and detailed handcrafts that we prepared for this year's Pulilan Town Fiesta to celebrate San Isidro Labrador's greatness. We all know that due to health crisis we’re going through, special occasions like Fiestas are being missed,” he earlier posted.

“Well, worry no more! We made hundreds of miniature-sized Carabaos, colorful floats, bands and many more to present you live on Facebook this coming May 14 and 15 at 2PM.
Watch out for all stunning Floats of 19 Barangays and more than 30 Business Establishments in Pulilan and more to see as they will all appear in the Mini Carabao Parade!”