Rizal Day Queen Candidate

Blue and white image of a woman's face with blue text around the outer edge on a white background

Rizal Day is a national holiday in the Philippines celebrated on December 30th. The holiday was established in 1898 to commemorate Jose Rizal, a Filipino nationalist executed by the Spanish colonial government after the Philippine Revolution, along with all of the victims of the Spanish colonial rule of the Philippines. On Rizal Day in the Philippines, ceremonies are held in the capital city of Manila, but they are also held abroad. In Chicago, starting in the 1910s and 20s, the Filipino student community led Rizal Day celebrations as a way to foster national identity. Though originally a somber event in the Philippines, the Chicago celebrations evolved to include lavish banquets, cocktail parties, music and dancing, and a Rizal Day Queen Contest.