Photos show Philippine Catholics smearing mud on their bodies for festival honoring John the Baptist

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Melencio Neuda, center, and other devotees who participated in the mud people festival raise their hands during a mass on the feast day of Saint John the Baptist at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Catholic devotee Mika Castillo, center, and her family members cover themselves with mud at a rice field to participate in the mud people festival on the feast day of Saint John the Baptist at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) — Melencio Neuda, center, and other devotees who participated in the mud people festival raise their hands during a mass on the feast day of Saint John the Baptist at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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2:35 AM on Wednesday, June 24

By AARON FAVILA

BIBICLAT, Philippines (AP) — Devout Catholics smeared their bodies with mud and wore banana leaves as they participated in an annual festival in Bibiclat, a village in the Philippines, on Wednesday.

The Taong Putik, or Mud People, festival has been passed on from generation to generation in the community as a way of showing devotion to the village's patron saint, St. John the Baptist. Devotees come to thank the saint for miracles or fulfill vows made in prayer.

Local church leaders say the tradition dates back to the 1800s, when farmers smeared themselves with mud as an expression of humility and covered themselves with banana leaves to conceal their identities.

The rituals start before daybreak in the muddy fields and end at the Church of St. John the Baptist.

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