January

FESTIVAL/EVENT	DATE	TYPE	VENUE	BRIEF DESCRIPTION
New Year’s Day	January 1	Religious	All Municipalities	Yearly, Ivatans attend midnight mass to celebrate the start of the new year. Churches like Mahatao & Ivana present the traditional “KOMETA” as a symbol of the coming new year.
Sto. Niño Festival) Kapangarek du Sto. Niño	January 1 & 6	Religious Cultural	Mahatao, Ivana, Uyugan & other barangays of Batanes	Initiated by the church & lay leaders, the image of Sto. Nino is brought to all Ivatan homes accompanied by the church choir, monaguillos musiko banda & pastoral officials for the day. Homeowners share food & cash gifts which the parishioners will partake and share in the parish after all the homes had been visited. Event has been practiced since the Spanish period.
Sto. Tomas de Aquinas Fiesta	January 28	Religious	Savidug, Sabtang	Religious Fiesta, featuring the religious theater shows e.g gozos, sagalalas, mañivayvatan and mañispanol. & the different traditional Filipino folk dances & other entertainment for the public to enjoy. Food is served in every household, visitors are very much welcome to join the merry making. Novenary masses were held prior to the feast day for its faithful to be spiritually prepared.
Kapaymuha su uvi	3rd week of January to February	Cultural	Province wide	Start of the traditional planting season of the famous Ivatan staple food UVI (yam) & DUKAY (tugue). One can still observe and experience the traditional planting rites & practices in Mahatao.