Interview by Rui Pastorin
A day of music, dance and Christmas celebrations took place yesterday in Praça da Amizade* (友誼廣場) yesterday as members of the local Filipino community gathered for a lively fourth edition of the “Parol Festival Macau” or “Lantern Festival 2025”.
The Parol Festival, aka the Giant Lantern Festival (“Ligligan Parul” in the Kapampangan dialect), celebrates the traditional Christmas lantern “parol” and is typically held leading up to Christmas Day. The event primarily takes place in the city of San Fernando Pampanga, with the parol (from Spanish word for lantern, “farol”) representing “the Star of Bethlehem, guiding people towards hope and joy during the Christmas season”, according to AI chatbot Poe.
Featured at yesterday’s event were several booths showcasing Filipino culture and the festive season, along with those run by different groups and associations. Snacks were also on offer, while dance performances, including one that featured Filipino fast-food icon Jollibee, were also held, all under an atmosphere that had many revellers singing and dancing along.
The annual Christmas activity’s main goal is to bring the festival to Macau to let Filipinos living in the city feel like they were celebrating it back home, Mark Anthony Cruz, representing event co-organiser Kapampangan Association in Macau (KAM), told the Post yesterday afternoon, noting that the event highlights included the lantern festival, lantern making and its competitions.
Gathering a number of Filipinos from the various groups in the city, along with curious onlookers, Cruz said that this year’s event had around 500 attendees at the time of the interview, noting that previous years had seen upward of up to over 700 people. Taking place in a central area, yesterday’s event also saw visitors including those from the mainland and elsewhere, with Cruz adding: “There were a lot [of tourists]. They are also dancing with us”, with some passing by to check the event out.
Meanwhile, Cruz also underlined the supportive non-local community in Macau when it comes to hosting events: “We have a minority community that supports each other. Every time there’s an event by one group, it gets the support of the 38 different associations in Macau, including the Vietnamese, Nepalese, Indonesians and those from Myanmar”, with the event being no exception. “This is the support to the fellow minority community from Macau”, Cruz concluded.
According to yesterday’s event poster, the one-day event featured Philippine Consul General Edna May G. Lazaro as guest speaker, while Caritas Macau Secretary-General Paul Pun Chi Meng and Legislative Assembly (AL) member Chan Lai Kei attended as invited guests.
* Praça da Amizade (“Friendship Square”) is colloquially known as Sintra Square
Members of the local Filipino community pose for pictures in front of the booths set up in Praça da Amizade (友誼廣場) for the 4th “Parol Festival in Macau”. – Photo: Rui Pastorin
