The Santacruzan is known as the queen of all May-time festivals in the Philippines.

Perhaps
this is because the Santacruzan is held every single year all over the country. Replicated in
various towns and cities, it is the highlight and culminating activity of the month-long Flores
de Mayo. The Flores de Mayo was introduced by the colonizing Spaniards to the country
centuries ago, during the colonization period. Traditional practices for this month include
people gathering in church every afternoon to offer prayers and flowers usually ilangilang, sampaguita (local jasmine), and hibiscus to the Virgin Mother. It is but natural that a
parade of queens should become the queen of all festivals, and that prestige and pageantry
have carried on until today. And no dominantly Catholic town in the Philippines is complete
without a Santacruzan during the month of May, or even outside of it.