The Giant Lanterns of San Fernando

Saturday, December 16 was the night of the Giant Lantern competition. There are a few barangays in the City of San Fernando who each Christmas join in this competition. They build a huge lantern with multicolored lights and it’s mounted in front of a truck. Donna felt we haven’t seen it in a long time and since Daniel has not really experienced it, so we have to go and watch it. A long time ago, they used to hold the competition in front of the city hall across from the San Fernando Cathedral courtyard. This time they had it at the SM amphitheater. We had an early dinner and proceeded to go there. I didn’t have a good feeling about it, afraid there will be heavy traffic. Actually the traffic on the way was not too bad. The crowd however was something else. I think there were about 12 participants. We were in a position where we can barely see the third, fourth and fifth lanterns. It was getting to the point where the crowd was so big that I was afraid one mishap will send these people into a panic. So after the 2nd lantern’s lights display, we decided to call it a night. To make a long story short, it took us one full hour to get out of the parking lot and into the street. Suffice it to say that Dan was not a happy camper and neither was I. A couple of nights later we heard that they will be displayed at nearby Paskuhan Village till about 10. So we hurried up to see them, excited that since the competition was over, it wouldn’t be as crowded. The lantern of Barangay San Felipe won, by the way. We took to the NLEx, whose off ramp in San Fernando is right at Paskuhan Village. We were paying the toll right at 9:46 pm but I looked and Paskuhan Village was dark. When I asked why, the toll attendant said the lanterns were lit only till 9:30!

In spite of all these frustrations, we were able to see them at Christmas Eve in front of the church and the guys saw them by Essel Supermarket in Telebastagan a few days before that. Unfortunately, the attached pictures fail to do them justice but these giant lanterns are truly gorgeous.