City of San Fernando, Pampanga—An estimated 50,000 people, mostly local and foreign tourists, are expected to witness the original Giant Lantern Festival of 2016 slated on December 17 at Robinsons Mall here.
Copied but never equaled, the annual festival of lights and sounds is more interesting this year as Barangay Dolores is gunning for a grand slam after it was declared first-prize winner in the 2014 and 2015 festivals, organizers said. Nine other entries “are working very hard” to get the top prize.
Apart from Dolores, nine other barangays joined this year’s Giant Lantern festival: Sta. Lucia, San Nicolas, Sto. Niño, Del Pilar, Calulut, Sindalan, San Jose, Telabastagan and San Juan.
The serious contenders are barangays Telabastagan, Del Pilar and Santa Lucia, whose entries have used anywhere from 13,500 to 80,000 light bulbs and are reportedly supported by mall operators and businessman.
Rolando Quiambao, a veteran of several festivals, said the secret of winning is on the color and the play of the lantern’s rotor. “Even if the play is good but if the color is very poor, nothing will happen,” he said.
A combination of both color and play of the rotor, plus the music that goes with the lights makes a winner, Quiambao said.
Each giant lantern, about 20 feet high, is mounted on a six-by-six truck with three to four persons manipulating the rotor to the beat of the music, followed by dancing lights.
Quiambao, a pioneer of the industry, said this ingenuity of Fernandinos in lantern-making started 108 years ago, and has been passed from generation to generation until it was perfected in the late 1960s.
Each participant spends about P800,000 if they already have a frame used in a previous festival, with a new entry spending about P1.2 million, with financial support from the Giant Lantern Foundation worth P150,000 and P100,000 more from the provincial government under Gov. Lilia Pineda.
The annual festival is the province’s main attraction during the holiday season, which coincides with the first Midnight Mass and the sale of Christmas staples like rice cakes and puto bumbong with tea.