giant lantern festival 2010 grand winner

Sta. Lucia spent P500,000 to build a lantern operated by 12 rotors, said Herman Quiwa, the barangay captain.

A rotor is an aluminum sheet that is shaped into a large tube fitted with a car wheel as a control handle.

The rotor serves three main functions. First, it is the main component that is connected to the source of electricity. Second, it controls the design of a single light pattern through masking tapes posted on the aluminum sheet. A covered portion means no bulb is going to set on or off.

Third, hair clips that come in contact with the exposed portions of the aluminum sheet turn on the lights. The clips are connected to the wires of the bulbs.

Judges chose the lanterns of Barangays Dolores and San Nicolas as second and third best, respectively. These were judged according to design, color combination and interplay of light and sound in the competition's three rounds.

Intricate

"The designs now are very intricate. The visitors should have also watched from behind the lanterns so they can see the effort that goes with making a lantern 'dance,'" said Fernando Santos, external affairs director of the University of the Assumption.

The lanterns this year were bigger by two feet to make them not only visually spectacular but to also make them larger to set a record, said Eddie Chua, chair of the Giant Lantern Festival Committee, which is headed by the private sector with support from the city government.

Following tradition, all nine giant lanterns will perform in front of Metropolitan Cathedral at the city proper after the Christmas Eve Mass.

In all, the lanterns will "perform" through a medley played by the Magsilbi Tamu Brass Band 919, an element of old that has been restored.

Ernesto Quiwa said that before Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial rule in 1972, the lanterns danced up to the wee hours ("pamorningan") to the accompaniment of the town's musical band, stopping only when the light bulbs got busted.

Because the lanterns were created mostly by the city's southeastern villages, these will be made to perform in the northern villages on Dec. 22 and 23.

Quiwa showed his advocacy by flashing the name of the Citizens Crime Watch and its logo on the San Pedro lantern. It was the only entry made of handmade paper manufactured by families displaced by Mt. Pinatubo's 1991 eruptions.

Ariel Flores, who designed the Telabastagan lantern, stuck with the sign of the crucifix from the start, with "Jubilee," the millennium song of the Catholic Church, as music.

The second and third rounds were tests of timing and in these, the rotor operators were crucial. They had to move the rotors according to the beat of the music.

"You have to dance with it," said John Mark Magno who, at 20, is the youngest rotor operator in the competition.

Niko Espiritu, now 22, began at 19. "I started pasting the paper or plastic [on the lantern]. Then I moved as an assistant to the electrician. Only after those [tasks] can you become a rotor operator," he said.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• giant
• lantern
• festival
• 2010
• pampanga
• san
• fernando

[brownsurfer69]

only in san fernando pampanga

[mamayagpagku]

proud to be lucians

[ferntam1]

wonderful color and light timing combination perfect...ferd/AIRBUS A380