Historical Significance
The PunLad Festival is held annually in Talisay, Batangas, typically during the second week of February, coinciding with the town’s founding anniversary and local fiesta celebration. The name “PunLad” comes from the phrase “punla sa pag-unlad” which translates to “seedling for progress,” reflecting the town’s key role as the “Seedling Bowl of the Nation.” Because Talisay provides the vast majority of the country’s seedlings and saplings, the festival honours that agricultural and horticultural heritage as a cornerstone of the town’s identity and development.
Unique Traditions
During the festival, residents showcase vibrant parades, street-dancing competitions, and floats themed around seedlings, plants, and the town’s nursery industry. Barangays compete in dance, costume, and décor, using motifs of seedlings, saplings, aquaculture fingerlings and other “punla” (seed) products. Agricultural exhibits and trade fairs also highlight the town’s nursery and aquaculture sectors, giving visitors a chance to see the “seed to growth” process up close and appreciate the labour behind the seedlings that come from Talisay.
Video from Fidel Luna Jr
Cultural Impact
The PunLad Festival strengthens Talisay’s sense of community, pride and identity by placing its seedling production front and centre. It supports local livelihoods—nursery owners, plant growers and aquaculture seed producers get visibility and appreciation. For visitors, the festival draws interest in Talisay’s unique agricultural niche, contributing to tourism and local economic activity. The event is an emblem of how small “seedlings” can symbolically represent growth, progress and prosperity for an entire municipality.