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Ylang-Ylang Festival

Visitors flocked to Anao town in Tarlac to celebrate this year's Ilang-ilang Festival. The festival, held along Anao Road, featured a fragrant and colorful street dancing competition joined by participants from the town's nine barangays. The dancers were clad in costumes made from indigenous materials. Unlike many street dancing competitions, the participants danced in unison to one tune, the Anao Hymn. The festival aims to promote the town's Ilang-ilang industry and ilang-ilang products like perfume, soap, and beauty products which are a source of livelihood for the townspeople.

The Ilang-ilang are highly scented flowers that grow in cananga trees or shrubs. The flower, shaped like a sea star, is usually greenish yellow and emits a very rich and deep scent. Used in aromatherapy, it is considered an aphrodisiac and is believed to relieve high blood pressure and reduce the oiliness of skin. The Ylang Ylang Festival is celebrated by the municipality every 16 March to take pride in their main local products, which are perfumes and essential oils made from the ylang-ylang flower. The town has over 10,000 ylang-ylang trees, many of them lined on the local main road, which are harvested and highly valued for its perfume.

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