Puerto Princesa festivals and events calendar 2026
Two events are worth planning a trip around and two are worth planning around avoiding. The Balayong Festival, 4–10 March 2026, marks the city's founding on 4 March 1872 and lands while the pink balayong trees bloom — it is the best week of the year to be here. Subaraw, around 11 November, commemorates the Underground River's New7Wonders win on that date in 2011. On the other side, Holy Week half-shuts the city on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and is the biggest domestic crush of the year, and IRONMAN 70.3 in mid-November 2026 sells hotels out race week.
Every event in the Puerto Princesa year
Dates confirmed for 2026 where a source gives them, and explicitly flagged where they are not. Anything marked unverified should be confirmed with the city tourism office before you book flights around it.
| When | Event | What it is | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Bagong Taon sa Baybay | The biggest New Year event in Palawan — fireworks over the bay and concerts along the Baywalk. Free, local, and busy | WORTH IT |
| February status unverified | Love Affair with Nature | A Valentine-timed mass mangrove-planting civic event on the coast. Long-running through the 2010s; current status unverified — ask locally rather than planning around it | DEPENDS |
| 4–10 March 2026 dates confirmed | Balayong Festival | The city's biggest week. Street dancing, a float parade and ceremonial balayong planting, marking the 4 March 1872 founding. The balayong — the Palawan cherry — blooms pink from February to early April along Balayong People's Park | WORTH IT |
| March or April movable | Holy Week | Processions on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and the single biggest domestic crush of the year. Flights and Underground River permits sell out weeks ahead and many businesses close Thursday to Friday | SKIP |
| April | Pangalipay sa Baybay and the Seafood Festival | A summer beach-party parade plus a Palawan seafood showcase. Lands in the hottest, driest stretch of the year — 94 mm of rain over 14 days | DEPENDS |
| 10–15 June 2026 dates confirmed | Baragatan sa Palawan | The province-wide festival at the Provincial Capitol: street dancing from every Palawan municipality, trade fairs and agricultural expos. City hotels fill with domestic visitors; Sabang is unaffected | WORTH IT |
| Mid-year 2026 date unverified | Feast of the Forest Pista Y Ang Kagueban | The city's proudest tradition, running every year since 1991: tens of thousands of residents climb into the watershed and plant narra, kapok and wild mangosteen as a civic holiday. The 33rd edition ran in August 2025, though it is usually described as a June event — the drift is real, so confirm the 2026 date locally | WORTH IT |
| September | Tandikan Festival | A float parade honouring the Palawan peacock-pheasant, the city symbol. Lands in the wettest stretch of the year at 246 mm over 20 days | DEPENDS |
| Around 11 November annual | Subaraw Biodiversity Festival | Commemorates the Underground River's New7Wonders of Nature win on 11 November 2011. "Subaraw" is Cuyonon for the variety of life. Biodiversity floats, exhibitions and reforestation drives | WORTH IT |
| Mid-November 2026 confirmed recurring; note the month change | IRONMAN 70.3 Puerto Princesa | A 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike and 21.1 km run. The inaugural race was 2 March 2025 and the 2026 edition is listed for mid-November — the date moved from March to November. City hotels sell out race week | DEPENDS |
| 8 December | City Fiesta Immaculate Conception | The cathedral's parish feast and the city fiesta, at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral on Rizal Avenue beside Plaza Cuartel | WORTH IT |
| 16–24 December | Simbang Gabi | The dawn novena masses running to Christmas, plus cultural shows. Domestic travel is heavy from 20 December to 2 January and rooms and fares reflect it | DEPENDS |
Confirmed 2026 dates: Balayong 4–10 March and Baragatan 10–15 June. Everything else is either annual on a fixed calendar date, movable, or flagged unverified above.
Balayong, 4–10 March 2026
If you have flexibility on dates, this is the week. It combines the city's founding anniversary, its best weather window and a genuine natural spectacle that lasts about six weeks.
The Spanish established the settlement on 4 March 1872 and the city still celebrates that date as Foundation Day, now fused with the Balayong Festival. The week brings street dancing, a float parade and ceremonial tree planting, and it happens in the middle of the best weather of the year — March averages 107 mm of rain over 11 days with calm seas for Honda Bay.
The balayong itself is the Palawan cherry, and its pink, sakura-like bloom peaks from February to early April along Balayong People's Park in Brgy. Sta. Monica. That means you do not have to hit the festival week exactly to see the trees — a March visit gets you both, and a February one gets you the blossom without the crowds.
Practical note: rooms fill for the parade days but this is not Holy Week. The city has 411 Booking.com properties and a week's notice is usually enough. The where-to-stay page has the neighbourhood argument.
The Feast of the Forest, running since 1991
Tens of thousands of residents climb into the watershed and plant trees as a civic holiday. It has happened every year since 1991 and it is the origin story for the "City in a Forest" line the city puts on everything.
The species planted are narra, kapok and wild mangosteen, in the Irawan and Montible watershed areas, with corporate partners and school groups alongside ordinary residents. The 33rd edition ran in August 2025. It is genuinely unusual: a municipal tree-planting holiday with mass participation, sustained across three and a half decades and two political eras.
Its local name — Pista Y Ang Kagueban — is Cuyonon, the heritage language of Palawan's old families and the province's lingua franca into the mid-twentieth century. That linguistic detail is a small window into how much older the city's civic culture is than its tourism.
The exact 2026 date is unverified. It is usually described as a June event, on the third Saturday, but the 33rd edition ran in August 2025 — so the date genuinely moves. If you want to be there, contact the city tourism office rather than booking on the assumption of a June Saturday. It is not a spectator event so much as a participatory one; turning up to plant is the point.
Holy Week half-shuts the city
Movable, in March or April, and the single biggest domestic travel crush of the Philippine year. Unless the processions are specifically why you are coming, plan around it.
What actually happens: flights and Underground River permits sell out weeks ahead, fares run ₱4,000–6,000+ against an off-peak ₱1,500–3,500, and many small businesses close on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Transport thins out. Restaurants shut. The city's ordinary rhythm stops for two days.
This is also the window in which the "no more permits, but…" upsell appears, trading on real permit scarcity. Book the river before you travel and the pitch has nothing to work with.
If you are travelling then anyway, book flights three to four months out, the river tour with them, and Sabang accommodation two to three months ahead if you want the Sabang overnight. The best-time page has the rest of the seasonal picture.
IRONMAN 70.3, and the month it moved to
Confirmed real and recurring. The inaugural race was 2 March 2025 and the 2026 edition is listed for mid-November — a genuine change of month that older listings have not caught up with.
The format is a 1.9 km swim, a 90 km bike leg and a 21.1 km run. If you are racing, you already know your dates. If you are not, the thing to know is that city hotels sell out race week and the road closures rearrange a normal tourist day.
The move from March to November also puts it in the same fortnight as Subaraw, which lands around 11 November. That makes mid-November an unusually busy stretch in a month that is otherwise the smart shoulder — late November and early December is the value window, and mid-November 2026 is now not.
If your dates are fixed and they fall in race week, book the room first and the rest after. That is the reverse of the usual advice on this site, and it is correct for this one week.
The dates that matter
What to lock when a festival is on
Festival weeks change the booking order. In a normal week you book the Underground River first and the room days ahead; in Holy Week or IRONMAN week you book the room first.
Festival questions, answered
When is the Balayong Festival 2026?
4 to 10 March 2026, marking the city's founding on 4 March 1872. The pink balayong blossom that gives the festival its name peaks from February to early April along Balayong People's Park, so a February visit catches the trees without the crowds.
What is the biggest festival in Puerto Princesa?
Balayong in early March for the city itself, and Baragatan sa Palawan from 10 to 15 June 2026 for the province — that one brings street dancing from every Palawan municipality to the Provincial Capitol and fills city hotels with domestic visitors.
What is Subaraw?
The Subaraw Biodiversity Festival, held around 11 November each year to commemorate the Underground River's New7Wonders of Nature win on 11 November 2011. Subaraw is Cuyonon for the variety of life. Expect biodiversity floats and reforestation drives.
Is there an IRONMAN in Puerto Princesa?
Yes, and the date moved. IRONMAN 70.3 Puerto Princesa ran its inaugural race on 2 March 2025 and the 2026 edition is listed for mid-November. It is a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike and 21.1 km run, and city hotels sell out race week.
Should I avoid Holy Week in Puerto Princesa?
Yes, unless the processions are why you are coming. It is the biggest domestic crush of the year: fares run ₱4,000-6,000+ against an off-peak ₱1,500-3,500, Underground River permits sell out weeks ahead, and many businesses close Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
What is the Feast of the Forest?
Pista Y Ang Kagueban, a civic tree-planting holiday that has run every year since 1991, with tens of thousands of residents planting narra, kapok and wild mangosteen in the watershed. The 33rd edition ran in August 2025 and the exact 2026 date is unverified.
When can I see the pink balayong trees?
February to early April, peaking around March, at Balayong People's Park in Brgy. Sta. Monica. Entry is free and the bloom lasts roughly 8 weeks. The Palawan cherry blooms pink and sakura-like, and it is the reason the March festival exists.
Do festivals make it hard to get around?
Only for a few days. Balayong and Baragatan close parts of Rizal Avenue and the National Highway for parades, which reroutes tricycles and adds time to an airport run that is normally 8 to 10 minutes. Petty theft in festival crowds is the one crime risk worth naming.