boys watching the colorful display in this shop
The southeast Asian island nation has the world’s longest festive
season — and pulls no punches in its celebratory zeal for the period,
with lavish light displays, masses, and festivals held throughout the
country from September until January.
☆ The Philippines has the longest Christmas season in the world — from September to January.
☆ The festive season is marked by traditional masses, spectacular light displays and family gatherings
☆ Some villages organise contents for the best Christmas decorations
☆ Traditional paper and bamboo lanterns known as ‘parols’ light up many Filipino villages and towns.
☆ The festive season is marked by traditional masses, spectacular light displays and family gatherings
☆ Some villages organise contents for the best Christmas decorations
☆ Traditional paper and bamboo lanterns known as ‘parols’ light up many Filipino villages and towns.
The parols are as important to Filipinos as the Christmas tree to Western culture — without parols Christmas wouldn’t be complete.
Christmas lanterns known as ‘parols’ light up many Filipino homes or
streets. They were first created in the late 1800’s by artisans to help
villagers find their way to churches to pray. Old paintings from that
time show these lanterns already. The lanterns were used by people to
light their paths during the ritual Yuletide dawn masses called ‘Misa de
Gallo’ [midnight mass], because electricity was unavailable at the time
in many rural areas. They were made of bamboo and paper and had a
candle inside. Such lanterns are now more likely to glow with electronic
lights, and made with plastic or capiz, but the ethos remains the same —
a guiding light in the darkness for worshippers wanting to congregate
and pray.
Make your own Christmas Parols in the Philippines.
Try to make your own parol for next year. A nice website with a good way to make a parol can be found on My Parol dot com And another one can be found at the website of the Bayanihan Community Center .
If you like to insert a lightbulb or candle, you need to make provisions
before you finish the parol, but I do not need to tell you this. If you
do: be carefull, because the paper and the bamboo might catch fire
easily… 
lantern parade in San Francisco
Summary
Article Name
Christmas Parols in the Philippines
Author
Jan van Dam
Description
The
Philippines has the longest Christmas season of all countries in the
world: September - January. This is about the famous Christmas Parols in
the Philippines, history and how to make them.
(c) 2103/2014 Jan van Dam (http://www.expatinthephilippines.com)
