Stars shone brighter in San Fernando Pampanga at Lantern Festival
Posted by on December 18, 2007
Last Saturday night, the stars of the City of San Fernando Pampanga, Philippines shone brighter than the moon. Once again, the Fernandinos proved to the world that the City of San Fernando Pampanga is the Christmas Capital of the Philippines.
Last December 15, we saw eight giant lanterns known to many Filipinos as Parol display a unique artistry found only in the land of the Kapampangan. Thousands of locals, Filipino and foreign tourists flocked to SM Pampanga Amphitheatre to witness the annual Giant Lantern Festival or locally known as the Ligligan Parul.
Several members of the Diplomatic Corps were also present among them the Ambassadors and representatives of the following countries to the Philippines: Cambodia, Greece, Italy, Laos, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), Palau, Panama, Qatar, Russia, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and South Korea.
The eight giant lanterns with height of up to 18 feet tall, competed in three rounds. On the first round, each of the lanterns is given seven minutes each to display their fancy lights using their own selected music.
On the second round we get to see to lanterns trying to out do each other. The interplay of lights and patterns and the quick changing of patterns never ceased to the Christmas tunes that were provided by the Ligligan Parul organizers.
On the third and final round, the lanterns danced to the rhythm and music provided by a Brass Band. The Band which is composed of trumpets, French horns, clarinets and other instruments played a medley of Holiday tunes. It was on the final round when all of the eight lanterns displayed their craft altogether.
And after more than two hours of intricate display of lights, judgment was finally rendered. The parol from Barangay Telabastagan captured the grand prize. Last year’s grand champion, Barangay San Felipe is good for the second spot only this year. While Barangay San Nicolas finished third place.
These lanterns were judged based on the design, color, interplay of lights, and timing to the music.
