Lucban (Quezon)

Overview

Lucban is a small Quezon town that fills beyond capacity every May for Pahiyas, when houses are dressed in brightly colored rice wafers and harvest produce for the feast of San Isidro Labrador. The festival is the peak, but the town works year-round as a base for the Banahaw foothills, with the Kamay ni Hesus pilgrimage climb, a long-standing parish church and ancestral streets, and wooded waterfalls not far away. Its food is a draw in itself, from garlicky longganisa to noodles eaten off a banana leaf.

Standout experiences

• 01 Pahiyas festival streets

  Facades decorated with rice wafers and produce, with food and crafts filling the streets each May.

• 02 Kamay ni Hesus climb

  A long stairway of Stations leading to a hilltop figure, busiest through Holy Week.

• 03 Town heritage walk

  The old parish church, plaza, and bahay na bato streets of the poblacion.

• 04 Banahaw foothill waterfalls

  Wooded falls a short drive into the countryside around Lucban and neighboring Luisiana.

• 05 Local food

  Longganisa, pancit habhab, and harvest sweets sold around the town market.

Getting there

There are no buses into town. Travelers take a bus to Lucena or Santa Cruz, Laguna, then transfer to a jeepney; jeepneys from Lucena run to the Lucban public market, and some vans from Lucena Grand Terminal serve the Kamay ni Hesus pilgrimage site. By car, Lucban sits on the Pagsanjan-Lucban-Lucena Road, about three hours from Manila via Pagsanjan.

When to go

Lucban sits at the foot of Mount Banahaw and is a rainforest town with no dry season, so rain can fall at any time of year. The Pahiyas Festival, held every May 15 in honor of San Isidro Labrador, is the main reason to visit and fills the town. The wettest months fall from June to December.