On December 5, 2021, Fil-Am of SCV brought families together to make Christmas parols, and there was no shortage of artistic creativity, fun, laughter and collaboration among moms, dads and the kids!
The parol is one of the Philippines’ most iconic symbols of Christmas. The word, “paról'', is a modern Filipino word derived from the Spanish term, “farol”, which means "lantern".
The tradition of the parol dates back to the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. It is a local adaptation of the Hispanic tradition of carrying small light sources like torches, candles, or braziers during the nine-day Christmas novena procession leading up to the midnight mass called Simbang Gabi in the Philippines. The parol is specifically reserved for the Christmas novena procession.
To this day, Filipinos proudly display parols inside and outside their homes. Traditional, parols are made with bamboo sticks andJapanese paper, and are illuminated with candles, oil lamps, or carbide lamps. More sophisticated and modern parols are made using other materials such as plastic, metal, and capiz shells, and are usually illuminated with electric lightbulbs. Although they are created most commonly in the form of a five-pointed star, parols can come in various shapes and sizes.
For our workshop, we went with the traditional bamboo sticks, Japanese paper and colorful cellophane. Other materials such as glitter were used to make the parols stand out and shine!
All parol makers at the workshop participated in our parol contest and the winners are going to be announced at our annual Christmas Party on Saturday, December 11, 2021.