the Gay Sagala

it is innate for us Filipinos to have festivals like the Mardi Gras of the US. in fact, Malate in Manila holds their own mardi gras every July i think. despite of the opposes from the Catholic Church, the tradition continues as mere fashion parade among gays. although it gets part in the Catholic celebration, no religious images were paraded. the sagalas depict the different reynas (queens) that are commemorated in the parade.

Brgy. Sta Elena in Marikina City holds this annual parade during the month of May after the town fiesta. year after year, the gays outwit each other with different gimmicks. actually, they are more expected than the regular religious Santacruzan.


sadly this year, rain poured over the sagalas while they were parading. the long gowns and the luxurious jewels came all wet. but as they say, the show must go on. there are also funny stuff that they take with them. one for instance, is so obvious that he had his nose done. he even brought dancers with him before he trails after them. one came in a big float that you can think that he spent a lot of money to outwit the others.

in spite of the rain, everybody enjoyed this quirky show.

above are the photos of the gay sagalas last May 16 at Sta.Lucia East as part of their anniversary celebrations.