The first thing visitors notice about New Year's Eve in Davao City is the quiet. There is no wall of noise at midnight, no haze of gunpowder hanging over the streets, and no queue of burn cases at the hospitals the next morning. Families eat together, count down, blow on their torotot horns and head to bed.
That calm is by design. Davao City has banned firecrackers and pyrotechnics for a quarter of a century, and the rule covers everyone inside city limits, including visitors. In this guide you will learn how the ban began, what the ordinance actually forbids, the penalties, the story of the Torotot Festival and how to spend the night in Davao without breaking the rules.
The short version: do not bring firecrackers into Davao City, do not buy them anywhere in the city, and do not expect a fireworks show at midnight. Plan for food, family and noisemakers instead.
How the ban started
Davao's ban came before its law. For Christmas 2001, then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte stopped the sale of firecrackers and pyrotechnics simply by refusing business permits to vendors and malls that planned to sell them. That season became the first quiet Christmas and New Year in the city.
The ordinance followed a year later. The City Council passed City Ordinance No. 060-02 on 15 October 2002, and the mayor approved it on 6 November 2002. By then the ban had already been tested on the ground for a full holiday season.
It has stayed in place under every administration since. Each December, the mayor's office and the Davao City Police Office remind residents and visitors that it still applies.
What Ordinance 060-02 covers
The ordinance bans the manufacture, sale, distribution, possession and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices anywhere within Davao City. A few points are easy to miss:
- It is a total ban. National law regulates firecrackers and allows some types, but Davao's local ordinance goes further and prohibits them outright inside the city.
- It applies all year. The rule is not only for Christmas and New Year. It covers every celebration in the city.
- Homemade noisemakers count. Improvised devices such as bamboo or PVC cannons are also covered.
- Possession alone is a violation. You do not have to light anything. Carrying firecrackers into the city is enough.
- The whole city is covered. That includes outlying districts such as Toril, Calinan and Mintal, not just downtown.
Penalties for breaking the ban
The ban is enforced. For the 2026 New Year, the police reported 16 operations against firecrackers and improvised devices, five arrests and more than 6,000 items confiscated, with charges filed against the violators. The city's Public Safety and Security Office follows these cases.
The result the city points to is in the injury count. Davao City again reported zero firecracker injuries over the 2026 New Year, the kind of figure it has posted year after year since the ban began.
The Torotot Festival
With firecrackers off the table, the party horn, or torotot, became Davao's sound of New Year. The idea got its biggest stage on 31 December 2013, when a Torotot Festival was held at Freedom Park along Roxas Avenue. Organised by Smart Communications, it tried to set a record for the most people blowing party horns at once, and official counts put the crowd at 7,568.
The festival came back for several more New Years, reaching its fourth edition at the end of 2016, before it faded. City tourism officials later said a private company had organised it and that the city had no plans to host one, and it is not part of the current year-end programme. The habit outlived the event, though. Torotots are still easy to find around Christmas, and plenty of families keep them for midnight.
What New Year's Eve in Davao looks like now
- The year-end marketPasko Fiesta closes with a community market in the last days of December. In 2025 it ran from 26 to 31 December on Tulip Drive near the Times Beach rotonda. Check the 2026 calendar for this year's dates and venue.
- Roxas Night MarketThe city's best-known street food strip, with grilled skewers, seafood and fruit. Expect it to be busy in the days before New Year.
- Mass and Media NocheNew Year's Eve here is a family night. Many go to Mass, share Media Noche at home and only step out for a walk afterwards.
- Hotel countdownsSome hotels hold ticketed countdown dinners. Expect music and noisemakers rather than fireworks.
The holiday season starts well before New Year. Our guide to Davao City's Pasko Fiesta 2026 covers the tree lighting, the parade and the December events that lead up to the countdown.
Tips if you are in Davao for New Year's Eve
Before the countdown
- Leave firecrackers out of your bagsPossession alone breaks the ordinance, even if you bought them legally somewhere else and never light them.
- Buy your torotot earlyParty horns sell out fast closer to New Year, so pick them up in December from markets and stalls around downtown.
- Book dinner and rooms aheadThe last week of December is one of the busiest of the year, with families visiting from nearby provinces.
- Do not expect a fireworks showThere is no legal fireworks display inside Davao City. Midnight is about people, food and noisemakers.
- Watch for changesA city councilor said in January 2026 that he was open to studying regulated displays in designated areas. No change has been adopted, so the full ban still stands.
If this is your first time in the city, our guide on what to know before visiting Davao City covers where to stay and how to get around, and the 3-day Davao City itinerary works well for the quiet days between Christmas and New Year.
Davao's New Year's Eve is quieter than Manila's or Cebu's, and the city likes it that way. After 25 years, a whole generation has grown up welcoming the new year with party horns instead of firecrackers.
Sources
Davao City: 13th year of Christmas and New Year without fireworks – MindaNews, December 2013
Davao City warns of penalties for firecracker ban violators – PTV News, 18 December 2024
Davao City records zero injuries during New Year celebrations – Edge Davao, 4 January 2026
Davao City safety office monitoring cases vs 5 firecracker ban violators – Manila Bulletin, 5 January 2026
Councilor open to revisiting Davao City firecracker ban – SunStar Davao, 7 January 2026
Davao City Torotot Festival – Wikipedia
Davao City Pasko Fiesta 2025 calendar released – SunStar Davao, 7 November 2025
Photo credit: City Government of Davao.
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