There’s no snow but this could be the most festive place on Earth
Parols are quintessential elements of a typical Christmas in the Philippines.
Ditch your romanticised view of a White Christmas and embrace the heat of an extra-long festive season in the Philippines.
Christmas or Paskong Pinoy starts early in the Philippines – it puts on one of the longest Christmas celebrations in the world. Filipinos start decorating their homes with colourful parols (lanterns) and Christmas lights as early as September and the festive fun continues to roll out until Christmas Day.
If you’re visiting over Christmas, here’s how to embrace the warmth of the holiday season in the Philippines with these top Filipino Christmas festivities and delicacies.
1. Witness the Giant Lantern Festival, Pampanga
Lighting up the streets of Pampanga, the Christmas Capital of the Philippines, are dazzling parols made from capiz shells. The time-honoured tradition started back in the 1900s when the townsfolk of Pampanga used to walk with a lantern in hand to light the electricity-deprived streets.
Stargazing but make it merry and festive.
From the Spanish word farol or lantern, these star-like ornaments are quintessential elements of a typical Christmas in the Philippines. To celebrate the parol-making tradition and the remarkable craftsmanship of Pampangueños, the Giant Lantern Festival is held annually in mid-December, showcasing vibrant and spectacular lanterns as tall as 20 feet.
Brightly coloured parols at the annual Giant Lantern Festival.
2. Gaze at The Festival of Lights, Makati City
Come November, the Ayala Triangle Gardens and the long stretch of Ayala Avenue in Metro Manila are festooned with twinkling lights jiving to a medley of Disney songs and popular holiday tunes.
A thousand lights illuminate the Ayala Triangle Gardens at night. (Image: David Kim)
The Festival of Lights has been an annual tradition for more than 15 years now and was once named one of the world’s best Christmas lights by international travel magazine Condé Nast.
The Liter of Light installation is made of solar-powered recycled bottles. (Image: Ayala Land)
3. Visit Christmas Symbols Festival, Tangub City
What started as a simple request for a Christmas tree to be placed in the city’s plaza in 1992 has grown to become one of the longest-running Christmas events in the Philippines.
Now you can find mini replicas of 14 iconic landmarks from around the world – think Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, Temple of Athena Nike in Greece, and Ashikaga Flower Park in Japan – but all in one place at the Christmas Symbols Festival in Tangub City, province of Misamis Occidental, Northern Mindanao.
Catch the iconic Christmas symbols from around the world in Tangub City.
4. Attend Misa De Gallo
One of the most embraced Paskong Pinoy traditions in the Philippines is Misa de Gallo or Simbang Gabi. If you’re visiting the Philippines in the third week of December, be sure to set your alarms early so you won’t miss out on attending the sacred gathering held in the wee hours of the morning.
Even the rain won’t stop Filipinos from attending the Simbang Gabi. (Image: George Calvelo)
As a predominantly Catholic country, Filipinos believe their Christmas wishes will come true by merely attending the Misa de Gallo for nine days from the 16th of December until right before dawn on Christmas Eve.
Drop by the food stalls outside the church to buy kakanin (native rice cake).
5. Celebrate Noche Buena
When the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Eve, families gather around the dining table for Noche Buena. Every household has a signature Christmas recipe often shared with their neighbours.
Paskong Pinoy is simple but meaningful.
Feast on savoury Paskong Pinoy dishes such as pancit (stir-fry noodles), Filipino sweet-style spaghetti, lechon (roasted pig), lumpia (spring rolls), jamón, queso de bola, tsokolate (hot chocolate), leche flan (caramel custard) and buko salad. Yum!
A typical Filipino fruit salad is served with freshly grated coconut.
6. Dine on Christmas delicacies
The smell of puto bumbong (purple rice cake) and bibingka (salted egg rice cake) fills the air as churchgoers drop by the stalls selling Filipino Christmas delicacies.
Puto Bumbong is made of pure ube with muscovado sugar and shredded coconut on the side.
You’ll find vendors cooking these special rice cakes in clay pots with fresh banana leaves and purple bamboo tubes.
The beloved Christmas staple is steamed until it becomes deep purple.
7. Head to the Christmas Village, City of Pines
In a perpetually sunny country like the Philippines, experiencing a White Christmas remains a wishful thought. The closest you can get to a wintery feel is up north in Baguio, the City of Pines where the temperature can drop to 10 degrees Celsius. There’s no snow but the vegetable fields in the nearby towns get covered with frost.
Part of the Baguio Country Club transforms into a festive carnival display. (Image: Baguio City Guide)
Head to Baguio Country Club and feel an enchanting holiday spirit at Baguio Christmas Village. This year, the Christmas Village takes on a carnival theme staging artificial snow installations.
Winter wonderland feels at the Christmas Village. (Image: Baguio City Guide)
8. Visit Casa Santa Museum
There are no reindeer to ride or chimneys for Santa to crawl through in Manila but the guy in a big red suit certainly has a special place in the hearts of Filipinos. So much so that you can visit a Santa-themed museum all year round.
Casa Santa Museum will ignite your childhood memories of Santa Claus.
The Casa Santa Museum in Antipolo (about an hour outside Manila) is home to over 3700 figurines and life-sized statues of Santa Claus and his elves, as well as various kinds of Christmas memorabilia.
There’s even an elf station at which you can imagine Santa’s elves working behind the scenes.
Showcasing Christmas traditions and stories from around the world and housed within a 19th-century house in the Jardin de Miramar, this festive museum offers a nostalgic Christmas experience for all ages.
The three-dimensional nativity scene is also known as Belen in the Philippines.
9. See the Christmas-themed houses on Policarpio St
Amid the bustling streets of Manila lies the dazzling Christmas-themed Policarpio St, Mandaluyong City. The homes here are alight with Filipino festive spirit come ber months (September to December).
The city street gets dressed with flashy and twinkly lights.
Follow the glow as you drive down the street until you see the House of Light and House of Santa Claus and marvel at the spectacular Christmas light displays and life-sized nativity scenes.
The well-decorated houses along Policarpio St have no shortage of Christmas displays.
10. Shop at modern Christmas markets
The essence of a Paskong Pinoy is rooted in gift-giving. Filipino kids typically visit their godparents (ninang/ninong) to ask for their aguinaldos (gifts) on Christmas day. In the Philippines, you can shop at holiday bazaars as early as September, and the most anticipated of them all is the Noel Bazaar, the longest-running holiday bazaar in the country.
Step into the home of wonder across different venues of Noel Bazaar. (Image: Cathlyn Botor)
This year’s bazaar will run for 48 days from the 10th of November and is held in different venues across the metro, including Okada Manila, World Trade Center and Filinvest Tent Alabang. Find stalls selling celebrity thrift clothes and all kinds of excellent gifts for loved ones. Organised by the GMA Kapuso Foundation, all the proceeds go towards children and families in need.
Find joy in shopping for Christmas gifts at Noel Bazaar. (Image: Cathlyn Botor)
Other Christmas markets to check out: Christmas ToyFAIR (December 15 to 17), World Bazaar Festival (December 13 to 22) and Greenhills Night Market (open until the first week of January).
A wondrous atmosphere of merriment screams at the Noel Bazaar this year.
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