Moriones Festival

Moriones has been kept in Marinduque since the nineteenth century, when a parish priest at Mogpog introduced it as a way of teaching the Passion. Through Holy Week, men and women in carved wooden masks and Roman soldier costume - the moriones - move through the towns in silence, appearing at street corners, startling children and performing set pieces, while the story of Longinus, the blind centurion whose sight was restored by the blood of Christ and who was executed for professing his faith, is played out across several days. It ends on Easter Sunday with the pursuit and staged beheading of Longinus in the plaza. The masks are the craft at the centre of it: carved from local wood, painted with fierce European features and topped with helmets and plumes, made by families who have supplied them for generations. Marinduque's four main towns each run their own version, and the island fills completely for the week.

What you actually see

• The carved masks - painted wooden helmets and faces.
• The silent roaming - moriones moving through the streets all week.
• The Longinus story - the pursuit played out across several days.
• The Easter finale - the staged beheading in the plaza.

When to go

Holy Week - the dates move with Easter, falling in March or April. Arrive before Maundy Thursday; the island is at capacity by then.

Honest expectations

Accommodation on Marinduque is limited and books out months ahead; ferries are packed. It is hot, crowded and long. This is a religious observance the towns keep for themselves, and visitors are guests at it.

Nearby

Marinduque's Bathala caves, Poctoy beach and the Boac cathedral are on the same island.