page_title: Our Lady of Porta Vaga
section_title: Calbayog "Soleda" Festival
hierarchical_section_title: Our Lady of Porta Vaga / Devotions / Calbayog "Soleda" Festival
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo by: Anniel C. Cabubas
context_page_description: Our Lady of Solitude of Porta Vaga, or commonly Our Lady of Porta Vaga, is a Marian title associated with a religious icon which depicts the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Solitude.
  The oldest dated Marian painting in the Philippines and the Patroness of the Province of Cavite, permanently enshrined in the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Solitude of Porta Vaga, San Roque Church in Cavite City. The image was ceremoniously crowned on 17 November 1978, having been long disputed as illegitimate. It gained an official canonical coronation on 19 March 2018 under the auspices of Pope Francis and received the state recognition as a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines on September 27, 2017.
context_section_description: This is a less popular but a more traditional celebration of the folks from Sta. Margarita and Barangay Matobato in Calbayog Samar about merry dancing at the shores bearing the image of Nuestra Senora de Porta Vaga, more popularly known as "Soleda". This festival is specially pursued and initiated by the descendants of the early settlers in the community called "Tagalugan" referring to Tagalog speaking migrants from Cavite City during the Spanish era. The celebration is prominently highlighted by the presence of "kubol" or sea-shanties made up of bamboo and coconut palm leaves. The devotees dance their way from the local Chapel as they bring out the image and pass by the different "kubols" until reaching the main "kubol" where a simple ceremony is conducted. The date of celebration though is not very prominent because of the confusion of the actual festival day which falls every second Sunday of November.
caption: Candles offered at a makeshift altar or "kubol" by the bay at the 2018 "Soleda" Festival Sta. Margarita, Calbayog, Samar
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