SAN MATEO – Rizal – The Kakanin Festival is annually held in San Mateo, Rizal every September 9 along with the celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Aranzazu. Kakanin festival was introduced by former Parish Priest, Msgr. Mariano T. Balbago Jr.
After a concelebrated mass in the morning, Parada ng mga Kakanin followed at the Plaza Miranda where a wide array of different kakanins were paraded such as suman, kutsinta, palitaw, puto and more which are given away to the people for free.
The participants of the festival still finished the parade even under the intermittent rainshowers. They still served rice cakes and manned the floats as it continued to rain while still being able to smile and enjoy the celebration. They were happily doing their assigned tasks while still singing songs of praise for Our Lady of Aranzazu no matter what comes through their way, be it bad weather, big crowds, or a huge traffic.
The Kakanin Festival proved the indestructible devotion of the parish servers, townspeople, and devotees towards Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu, like the different varieties of Kakanin, regardless of the differences in color, forms, and process, have the same consistency.
