Old folks say that the first lantern festival was held in 1928, to honor President Manuel L. Quezon, who was made an adopted son of Pampanga. At that time, Quezon made Arayat his rest area and converted legendary Mount Arayat into a tourist resort. As a show of gratitude to Quezon, the people of San Fernando held a Christmas lantern contest to honor the first family. Quezon himself donated the prize for this lantern contest, which was personally awarded to the winner by First Lady Aurora Aragon Quezon. (Reference: City of San Fernando-Tourism)

Pampanga’s Giant Lantern Festival is one of the most awaited festivities of the city. With Christmas songs playing, and a cold wind blowing, truly I can say, that Christmas is just around the corner. Being a first timer in this event, I have no idea what to expect.

While I waited for the event to start, I went around the ampitheather to look at the people as they prepare their lanterns. Honestly, the lanterns can catch your attention even though it is not lit, with it’s magnificent designs and size, ranging from 18 to 20 feet each, with around 3,500 to 5,000 bulbs per lantern, I can’t wait for the festival to start.

Walking around, I was able to meet some of the wonderful people that was behind the giant lanterns. One of which is Mr. Christopher de Loyra of Brgy Del Pilar. I was wondering why the lanterns are attached to the huge trucks, he said “that is the only way we can move them and the rotor are attached at the back of the truck that will serve as a switch to light the lanterns”. Fascinating! Can you imagine an 18 ft lantern being operated manually? Yes, It’s not computerized or digital, all of it are manually operated by around 6-8 people per lantern.

I was also fortunate to meet Mr. Ronald Quiambao of brgy. San Felipe, he said “Being a musician myself, I want to make sure that the lights coordinate well with the music.” Hmmm, I really taught that the lanterns will just light on their own, that would be easy, but having to coordinate with the rhythm and flow of the music is another.  It’s a combination of art, coordination and choreography all rolled into one.

A few minutes before the event starts, I was able to meet Mr. Arnel Flores of brgy Telabastagan who is the 5^th generation in his family of lantern makers. Truly, these Christmas lanterns not only bring color and happiness to the people that watch it, but it also makes the tradition and the family ties stronger as they work together to create a lantern to call their own.

The lantern is divided into 3 parts: electrical, design and interplay of lights. The lantern is usually made up of carton, plastic, paper (or papel de hapon), steel, resin, electrical wires and bulbs. The lanterns will have three categories to display their beauty. First round, each lantern will light for 7 minutes with the music that they have prepared; Second round will be for 5 minutes where two lanterns will be lighted at a time and try to coordinate their lights with the music the organization have chosen; the last and third round is a display of the 8 giant lanterns lighted together and will show off and catch the attention of the onlookers for the entire 3 minutes, all at the same time! You can hear the crowd cheer and sing along the music as each lantern lit. Truly, a remarkable sight to see, locals and foreign visitors alike enjoyed the evening.

The giant lantern festival is a part of the Fernandino’s tradition. ‘It is not only the celebration of creativity and artistic genius of the people of San Fernando, but a symbol of the bayanihan spirit that goes along into the making of its giant lantern.’ quoted Capt. Conrado Pacua.

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