At the onset of the month of August, the town is filled with excitement as the Buyogan festival is again to be held and the Buyogan Dance Group will once again show the spectacle of the town's festival in different competitions around the country. Legend tells that the town got its name when the Spaniards, during the 1500s, landed in the town and asked for its name. One inhabitant of the town thou
ght that the Spaniards were asking for the name of the swarm of bees flying around. Buyog" - buyog, the Waray-waray term for bees. The rest is history. The highlight of the Buyogan Festival is the Buyogan parade joined by different groups. Participants dress themselves in different colorful costumes patterned to the different shapes and colors of the bee life. Children depict little bees buzzing around in a reproduction of a beehive. Other participants dance with paint and henna tattoo, in tribal designs, on their faces and bodies representing the ethnic history of the town. The Buyogan Festival has become widely known around the Philippines because of the Buyogan Dance Group's immensely beautiful performances around the country. It has won 1st place honors in the different dance competitions it participated like that of the Aliwan Dance Festival in Pasay City, the Sinulog Dance Festival in Cebu City, Pintados Dance Competition in Tacloban City, and many more. The Buyogan Festival has become one significant source of pride for all the people of Abuyog, Leyte.
