Drive to the 'Christmas Capital of the Philippines'

I HAVE always been fascinated by parols or lanterns. As a child, I would count and stop at houses with lighted parols on our way home from church. To most of us who grew up in the provinces, the parol is the symbol of Christmas, not Santa Claus or Christmas trees.

I always wanted to see the biggest parol in the Philippines. I remember braving the traffic several years ago to San Fernando, Pampanga so that we could watch the spectacle of lights of the giant lanterns. The display was located at the back of Robinsons Starmills. Entrance to the venue was free, but you had to show a receipt that you bought something from Robinsons. I remember buying a towel. I showed my receipt to the guard and was ushered into the parking lot. I parked in front of the nine giant lanterns. I was excited as I was going to see the biggest lanterns in my life. When the show was about to start, it started to rain. «We are canceling tonight's show,» we heard from the public address system. I drove home to Cavite very frustrated. I thought I would never get the chance to see the Giant Lantern Festival again.

Showdown Local band Festival stage Grand showdown Festival crowd Watching an individual performance Festival venue Intermission Waiting for the competition to start

Then I received an invitation from NLEX Corp. to see the opening of this year's Giant Lantern Festival. NLEX has been bringing media partners and content creators to many of Central and North Luzon's attractions, and to cap this year's series of NLEX Lakbay Norte travels, they chose the visit to the «Christmas Capital of the Philippines.» I said «yes» immediately to their invitation, as I wouldn't want to miss witnessing the Giant Lantern Festival again.

History of the festival

The origin of the festival is said to be from the Kapampangan religious practice called lubenas, where prayers were said for nine days leading to Christmas Day. During lubenas, devotees carrying lanterns strung on poles made of bamboo participated in a foot procession leading to the church, with the village's patron saint carried at the end of the procession and illuminated by another bigger parol or lantern. On Christmas Eve, these parols made by