Clark Field, Pampanga—Spectators of this year’s exhibition of giant lanterns will be filled with more excitement as participating communities have come with sophisticated designs crafted by young blood in the lantern-making industry, the head of the City of San Fernando Tourism Office said.
“We are more excited because our lantern makers are getting younger, and thus are sure to have different ideas, so we are looking forward to the gimmicks they will show us this year,” said Ching Pangilinan, head of the City Tourism Office.
Pangilinan said organizers of the Giant Lantern Festival are expecting a huge crowd compared to previous exhibitions. She said 12 barangays will be competing in this years’ parade, touted as one of the biggest and longest events for the holiday season in the country.
“We want to have more time for people to watch and enjoy the friendly competition of our barangays,” Pangilinan explained adding that organizers will be holding the festival as early as Dec. 14 (Saturday) and end it on Jan. 2, 2020.
She added that the city government is granting P300,000 to each participating barangay to make their lanterns, for a total of P3.6 million.
Pangilinan said the city’s Incident Command System (ICS) have mapped out a plan to address the traffic congestion that may arise during the 20-day exhibition to be held at the Robinsons StarMills at Barangay San Jose here.
“Traffic action plans have been laid down and are ready for implementation during the exhibition period,” said Pangilinan.