When hyperboles crown the fiesta queen

By Herman M. Lagon

Hyperbole, by its nature, amplifies our expressions, making the mundane magnificent and the simple, spectacular. Here’s one for the books.

Imagine a fiesta in Iloilo, where the atmosphere is “charged with excitement thicker than a bibingka’s sweet coconut topping.” The town plaza, usually as “quiet as a library,” transforms into a spectacle “as lively as a carnival,” with colors “brighter than a peacock’s plumage.” At the center of this whirlwind of joy is the fiesta queen, “shining brighter than the morning star,” her beauty “unrivalled in a thousand Miss U pageants.”

Her gown, “flowing like the waters of Jalaur River,” sparkles with a brilliance “that could outshine the sun.” Her smile, “warm enough to light up a million fiestas,” captivates every heart, making the crowd’s cheers “louder than a Swiftee concert.”

As she moves, “with grace surpassing a bamboo swaying in the wind,” the spectators are “as mesmerized as if they’d seen a miracle.” Her laughter, “as melodious as a kundiman,” fills the air, making even the “flowers sway in rhythm.”

To describe her influence on the crowd, one might say she “turns the night into day,” with her presence “erasing all shadows of doubt” about the unity and spirit of the community. Her reign, though just for the night, promises “a year of bounty, as sure as the rice fields turn golden in harvest.”

Her dance, a traditional tinikling is “a spectacle more thrilling than the Dinagyang festival,” her feet moving “faster than a maya’s wings.” The bamboo poles clack together “with a rhythm that beats in the heart of every Ilonggo.”

In her speech, she speaks of hope and unity, her words “as sincere as a mother’s lullaby,” promising to be “as steadfast as the mangroves guarding our shores.” She calls upon the youth, “brighter than the stars over Guimaras Strait,” to take up the mantle of leadership and service, ensuring that the traditions and the vibrant spirit of their forebears “shine on for eons.”

As the night draws to a close, and the fiesta queen’s carriage, “lit up like a constellation,” carries her away, the people are left with hearts “as full as a ripe mango,” their spirits “lifted higher than the highest bamboo.”

This imagined local celebration, peppered with hyperbole, captures the exaggerated beauty and impact of a fiesta queen on her adoring public during a town fiesta in Iloilo. Through the use of this figure of speech, it tells a tale of tradition, beauty, unity, and hope—a fitting homage to the enduring charm and cultural richness of Ilonggo, and by extension, Filipino fiestas.

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Doc H fondly describes himself as a ‘student of and for life’ who, like many others, aspires to a life-giving and why-driven world that is grounded in social justice and the pursuit of happiness. His views herewith do not necessarily reflect those of the institutions he is employed or connected with.