Lighting lanterns for the holidays: American Canyon celebrates a Filipino tradition
With a juried competition of homemade traditional Filipino lanterns, American Canyon’s Filipino American community ushered the Yuletide season this weekend.
About 50 people attended Saturday’s fourth annual Community Parol Festival at American Canyon’s Mikolajcik Center at the former Napa Junction Elementary School, where handcrafted star-shaped lanterns known as parols decorated the walls.
The event included a juried competition featuring eight handcrafted lanterns and a short parade in the parking lot of the parols in the parking lot of the former elementary school.
In the Philippines, people made their own parols to decorate their houses for Christmas, said Elmer Manaid, president of Fil-Am. This started the Yuletide season.
“So, we bring that tradition here,” Manaid said.
This teaches a new generation Filipino traditions that are then carried on within the community, Manaid added, as judges evaluated the submitted star-shaped lanterns made at a series of workshops.
Traditionally made with bamboo sticks and rice paper and lit with candles, parols represent the star of Bethlehem that guide the three wise to infant Jesus’ manger. They were also used to illuminate the believers’ way to church.
The parol tradition evolved after Spaniards brought Christianity to the Philippines in the 16th century. The word “parol” comes from the Spanish word “farol” or lantern.
The American Canyon Arts Foundation co-sponsored Saturday’s event, which also featured hula dancing, music and a buffet of lumpias, pancit, barbecue pork, mashed potatoes and other treats.
Karen Brorby, an American Canyon Arts Foundation member, and others said the event celebrates Filipino culture. Many people may not know what a parol is, she said. She did not know what a parol was either.
“And now, not only do I know what one is, but I actually know how to make one,” Brorby said.
Luchi Marte taught the recent workshops. Families come together and everybody participates in making a parole, Brorby and others said.
The juried competition included eight entries from all age groups. They were graded on quality of the work and color combination, creativity and name of the parol.
The first-place winner was Jessica Lacaba, who decorated her lantern with clothespins and shells from pistachios bought at Costco. She received $150. There were cash prizes for the second-runner up and other participants in the juried competition.
There are more than 5,400 Filipinos in American Canyon, Napa County’s fastest growing city with nearly 22,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census. American Canyon also includes more than 6,700 Hispanic residents.
