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Christmas Guide
Be Amazed in the Most Dazzling Christmas Towns in the Philippines
Big cities, bright lights—see these Christmas towns unlike any other!
By: Patricia Marie Prado | October 01, 2020
Due to changing quarantine measures, the activities, destination/s, store/s, establishment/s featured in this article might be temporarily prohibited or closed under the latest government policies. LGUs might also implement health protocols and travel requirements. Please get in touch with the establishment/s before visiting. Stay safe!
Christmas time in the Philippines means food, family, and all-out decors. From putting up towering Christmas trees to decorating with the most colorful Christmas lights and lanterns, many Filipinos pull out all the stops during the holidays and dress up their homes as early as September.
Aside from beautifying their homes, Filipinos are also known to light up the streets come Christmas time. The usually busy thoroughfares and parks turn into the most dazzling Christmas towns once December arrives. This happens not just in Manila: several cities and provinces across the country also become their own Christmas towns when the holiday hits. Read on and see places throughout the country that turn into the best Christmas towns in the Philippines!
1. Baguio
Session Road sparkles once December arrives.
Baguio is always a favorite destination every December thanks to its cool weather. During the yuletide season, the local government also puts its best foot forward and turns Baguio into a glowing Christmas town.
Just drive along the busy Session Road and you’re sure to see hundreds of Christmas lights and lanterns brightening up the area. Huge Christmas trees are also popular in Baguio during the holidays. Some great spots to see such stunning trees include Burnham Park, Camp John Hay, and Malcolm Square.
2. Pampanga
The giant lanterns in Pampanga will make your jaw drop to the floor.
Image: @annemazing1
Pampanga also becomes a spectacle during December especially when their famous Giant Lantern Festival commences. Various barangays all over the province join the competition, displaying their best, brightest, and biggest lanterns that light up San Fernando. These are not your typical parol (lantern), as some come as big as 20 feet adorned with thousands of light bulbs.
The competition in the Giant Lantern Festival usually occurs on the Saturday before Christmas Eve and is held at Robinsons Starmills in San Fernando. Plan your schedule accordingly if you want to drive to Pampanga and see these jaw-dropping spectacles.
3. Cebu
M. Lhuillier’s Tree of Hope lights up the busy Fuente Osmeña Circle in Cebu.
Image: M. Lhuillier Financial Services Inc.
The Queen City of the South also turns into a luminous Christmas town during the holidays thanks to a remittance and pawnshop company. In the year 2000, The Lhuillier Group of Companies started a tradition of installing the M. Lhuillier Tree of Hope at Fuente Osmeña Circle towering over 125 feet high. Once the sun is down, the giant tree lights up the circle with its 25,000 light bulbs that leave any onlookers in awe.
Since its inception, The Tree of Hope has been the Cebuano-owned company’s way of saying thank you to the Cebuanos. Below the tree are images of Señor Sto. Niño, while various decors including small lanterns and poinsettias can also be found there.
4. Rizal
Watch Casa Santa Museum glow brightly in Rizal.
Image: @junocorpuz
This featured place in Rizal is only a house, but the decor is grand enough to rival that of any town’s. The Cruz family, owners of Casa Santa Museum, turned their house into a Christmas home, filling it with over 3,000 Santa Claus figurines and sculptures and other Christmas displays.
If you’re planning to visit Casa Santa Museum, make sure to come by early. The subdivision where the house is located only allows 60 cars inside the premises and only 100 people can enter the museum per day. Entrance fee is just PhP180. The house is located at Filinvest Homes East, Marikina-Infanta Highway, Cainta, Rizal.
5. Laguna
Walk amidst thousands of sparkling lights at Nuvali in Laguna.
Image: Nuvali
Sometimes looking at Christmas lights is not enough; that’s why mega developer Ayala Land made a way for us to walk among them. In 2016, Nuvali’s Magical Field of Lights opened to the public to make Christmas in Laguna brighter. The 3,600-square-meter land in Nuvali contains over 5,000 tulip-like bulbs that illuminate the ground.
Guests can walk across the field and take a closer look and snap some photos of the shining display. There’s also a 50-meter spiral tunnel that guests can walk through before reaching the field of lights. Although there’s no specific date yet as to when the field will reopen, you can follow Nuvali’s Facebook page for updates.
6. Makati
Makati is always a favorite once the holiday season comes.
Image: @bndctj
For Manileños, Makati is always a favorite spot to visit come Christmas time. The hectic business district becomes a Christmas town to behold when the holiday season kicks in. Ayala Triangle Gardens turns into an illuminated park known as the Festival of Lights. The trees become covered with over thousands of lights and come alive every night with musical accompaniment.
Even the major thoroughfares of Makati also turn into a brightly-lit marvel. Make sure to drive by Ayala Avenue, Paseo de Roxas, and Makati Avenue and see the displays for yourself.
Wherever you are in the country, there’s definitely a small part of your city that becomes a colorful Christmas town come December. Let us know in the comments section which of the best Christmas towns in the Philippines you’d love to visit before the season ends.
This article was originally published in Yoorekka on November 08, 2018.
About Patricia Marie Prado
Patricia came from the field of business and accounting but is now pursuing her dreams of being a writer. She is a self-confessed introvert and is passionate about reading, travelling, writing, movies, coffee and God. When she's not writing, she loves discovering new coffee shops/cafe and doing TV-series marathons.
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