BYAHILO at the Pampanga Giant Lantern Festival 2009!

Yesterday, Don, Fitz and I drove to San Fernando Pampanga to do a quick heritage tour around the City of San Fernando and the neighboring towns. But or main itinerary yesterday was the Giant Lantern Festival or locally known as the Ligligan Parul which was held in Robinson’s Starmills in San Fernando.

Thousands of locals as well as tourists flocked to the venue. But since the event will be held right at the back of the Robinson’s Mall, many people came as early as 3PM and just waited comfortably inside the shopping mall. The program started at around 7PM. But with so many speeches and introductions done, the contest actually started past 8PM already.

This year, 9 barangays join the Ligligan Parul, where lanterns stand no less than 18 feet. The lanterns are really big! They all have to stand supported by a truck. Each lanterns contains an average of 7,000 colored bulbs that magically creates beautiful lantern patterns when lit.

The Giant Lantern Contest has 3 rounds of competition. During the first round, each lantern is allowed to display its amazing colors using its choice of music for 7 minutes.

On the second round, a pre-selected music will be played for 5 minutes, but this time, 3 giant lanterns will try to outdo each other.

On the final round, a local brass band will provide live music. This time all the lanterns will be lit and will do the ultimate showdown. And best of all, only the organizers and the brass band knew the music that will be played on the third round!

This is the third time that I have witnessed this grand festival and I must say, this year is much better compared to the last edition I witnessed in 2007. Kudos to the organizers for putting up a great show!

Truly, The City of San Fernando Pampanga is the Chirstmas Capital of the Philippines!

This year’s winners are:

CHAMPION Brgy Dolores. (That’s where Fitz bought his Capiz Parol!)
1st runner-up Brygy Telabastagan
2nd Runner up: Brgy San Jose

Brgy Telabastagan was the 2007 and 2008 Ligligan Parul Champion. thisyear were were unsuccessful in defending their crown, thus, they were not elevated into the Hall of Fame status.

Check out the video of the Final round showdown of the nine giant lanterns during the Ligligan Parul 2009 in San Fernando Pampanga: