A Star Is Borne: San Francisco’s Annual Parol Lantern Festival
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The parols at San Francisco’s Annual Parol Lantern Festival at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (Photo by MC Canlas)
This was a text I received from Raquel Rodondiez, director of SoMa Pilipinas, the lead organizer of the 19th annual Parol Lantern Festival. She was referring to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the co-host of the festival, and the headcount was the number of people that attended the in-person festival, who were required to show their proof of vaccination and follow masking protocol.
The text message is another way of saying that the event was extraordinarily successful, and we did it.
The attendees are treated to a light FIlipino meal before the Parol lighting festivities at the YBCA (Photo by MC Canlas)
The lighting of parols outside the YBCA (Photo by MC Canlas)
The full house crowd inside the YBCA for the Parol Lantern Festival (Photo by MC Canlas)
The annual parol lantern festival and parade, usually held on the second Saturday of December at Jessie Square on the East Side of St. Patrick’s Church, is a must-see Filipino community event in San Francisco during the holiday season. Except for last year’s edition when, at the height of the pandemic and shelter-in-place, the principal organizers of the festival, Filipino American Development Foundation (FADF) and Kularts, decided to hold the celebration virtually via Zoom, YouTube and Facebook, instead of canceling it altogether.
“It was not the same,” was the common feedback on the virtual festival.
However, beyond our expectations, the request for parol kit supplies and parol-making soared due to the social media popularity of the UK Disney advert "From our Family to Yours," which highlighted the parol and the intergenerational family.
Philippines-based GMA television sought to interview a real lola who could relate to the advert. But it wasn’t easy to find a lola who would be ready for the TV interview via Zoom. GMA decided to interview me instead.
If last year’s theme was “Light Amidst Darkness,” (Liwanag sa Kadiliman) my suggestion for this year is “Light Tomorrow with Today” (Tanglawin ang Bukas Ngayon) as we feel and almost see everything in a state of transition and uncertainty. But we need to move on. We always describe parol (also often referred to as Filipino Christmas lanterns or star lanterns) as the quintessential Filipino symbol of hope, blessings, luck, and peace. It can be found lighting up windows of Filipino homes throughout the world during the holiday season.
This year as we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines (1521-2021), and the theme of the celebration is “Gifted to Give,” we take our parol, together with the Simbang Gabi, as testaments of our Christian faith; they are our gifts to the world.
The Christmas parol symbolizes the bright, lone star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Wise Men (Magi) to the manger of the newly-born King-Jesus Christ. The basic parol design is a five-pointed star inside a circle, usually made of bamboo sticks, multicolored crepe paper or papel de japon and cellophane. However, parol can be of various forms, shapes, sizes, and materials.
The Parol Lantern Festival in San Francisco was initiated by the Filipino American Development Foundation (FADF) in 2003 for the soft opening of the Bayanihan Community Center. A series of parol-making workshops were held to introduce and promote the Filipino virtue of bayanihan (i.e., community working together for a cause or project).
The Parol Lantern Workshop (Photo by MC Canlas)
In 2006 Kularts, the premier presenter of tribal and contemporary Filipino arts based in San Francisco, joined FADF as co-presenter and enhanced the festival’s programming of the parol parade and pageantry, Tala Awards, cultural performances, Taste of Filipino Christmas, and Parol gallery.
Parol-making workshops are folk arts-and-craft activities that also promote the bayanihan spirit. It’s not easy to describe the image of bayanihan – helping one’s neighbors move their house - to non-Filipinos and even among Filipino Americans. With the rehabilitation of the former Delta Hotel into Bayanihan House and Bayanihan Community Center on Sixth and Mission streets in South of Market, our challenge was how to promote the ancient Filipino concept and value of bayanihan into a contemporary community experience. The bigger challenge for Filipinos in America, however, is authentic visibility in the diverse and multicultural fabric of American society.
If the parol evokes nostalgia and longing for the Philippines, the annual parol festival in San Francisco establishes our belonging to our new home. Belongingness is the human emotional need to be accepted in a group, nation, or society. The parol is an emblem of longing and belonging.
“The Christmas parol is the quintessential Filipino symbol of hope, blessings, luck, and peace.”
SoMa Pilipinas’ taking the lead in the parol festival is an organic progression. In April 2016 the City and County of San Francisco adopted SoMa Pilipinas as a Filipino Cultural Heritage District, and in July 2017, the California Arts Council selected SoMa Pilipinas as one the 14 designated cultural districts of the State. The selection is attributed to the cultural assets, traditions, and community rituals, being kept alive in the district, and among these is the annual parol lantern festival.
Holding the 19th edition of the festival at YBCA is big boost, with successful events done indoor and outdoor. The celebration featured a series of parol-making workshops and a gallery of lanterns, live music and a showcase of Filipino holiday treats (“A Taste of Filipino Christmas”). The festival culminated in a novel parol-lighting ceremony with a youth choir and Kularts’ Lakbai Diwa performance of a ritual, living dance prayer and meditation for the world, featuring spirit boat offerings of food, flowers, herbs, and power objects festooned with prayer flags. The festival came full circle as its first edition was held on December 15,2003 at the YBCA Forum.
Light tomorrow with today, indeed, as I look forward to the Parol Lantern Festival’s 20th edition in 2022.
Additional links:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=230935875778617
https://www.facebook.com/142049431593/videos/770706983520143
MC Canlas is a community strategist, community historian, and author, in addition to being the founder of the annual Parol Lantern Festival in San Francisco.
