UP Diliman Lantern Parade 2012

This was our first time to witness the annual UP Lantern Parade tradition. A display of creative floats by the UP Departments made a procession around the UP Diliman academic oval to unite and celebrate the Christmas season.

The kids enjoyed having their photo taken with the UP students, but got scared also with some of those in mythical creature costumes.

There was a UFO float, a huge cockroach, kalesa, boats, fish on clouds and walking houses.

This got their vote as the best one. A candy airplane float! :)

A few facts about the UP Lantern Parade:

1. The first parade was held in 1922 but it was institutionalized as a university celebration in 1934. This is their 90th year celebration.
2. The Lantern Parade took its inspiration from the folk practice of carrying lanterns to light the way for the early morning masses during December or misa de gallo, a Spanish practice.
3. The UP College of Fine-Arts is the Lantern Parade’s Hall-of Famers having for many years swept up all the prizes, since 1929 to 1989.
4. It took the activist motif before the declaration of Martial Law. It then continued to be a venue for protest and a platform in voicing out national concerns such as education budget cuts and grievances against the national government.  The UP Diliman community also claims that the Lantern Parade is also an event that reflects both the people and milieu of its time, depicting the changing social and political landscape of the university.
5. This year's (2012) theme is "Dangal at Kahusayan sa Paglilingkod sa Bayan" (Honor and Excellence in the Service of the Country.

Source: WikiFilipinas and Diliman UPDate Online 

The UP Lantern Parade is definitely a must-see kid attraction every Christmas season! :)