THE traditional San Fernando giant lantern will again make history as the official Philippine representative to the Jerusalem Festival of Lights to be held on June 27 to July 5, 2018 at the Tower of David in Israel.

Tourism officer Ching Pangilinan said the event will be held in the old city of Jerusalem. The lantern team led by Arvin Quiwa crafted the 16-foot traditional San Fernando lantern with rotors for the said event.

Quiwa, a fifth generation lantern maker, is a prominent figure in the lantern industry in the City of San Fernando. The 16-foot giant lantern is composed of three rotors and 1,600 bulbs.

At least 20,000 people per night are expected to attend the festival.

The city’s lanterns have long been making rounds abroad. Aside from China, the “Parul Sampernandu” (Fernandino lantern) was brought to Hollywood in 1993, a year before that to the World Expo in Spain.

The city's lanterns had also decorated Austrian landmarks such as the Rathausplatz and Ethnology Museum in Vienna, as well as the Stadtturm in Innsbruck, the Lord Mayor's House in Dublin and the Good Shepherd Cathedral in Singapore.

The San Fernando lanterns have also illuminated various embassies abroad and have been gifted to different government leaders both here and abroad. The lanterns were displayed at the Philippine embassies and consulates in Canada, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Thailand and the United States, among others.

The San Fernando lantern had also sparked a cultural tradition that is still observed today in the capital city. What started as a lantern contest to honor and thank then President Manuel Quezon for converting Mount Arayat into a tourist resort had turned into a yearly spectacle.

The Giant Lantern Festival has become an annual festival held in December (Saturday before Christmas Eve) in the City of San Fernando. The popularity of the festival has earned Pampanga province the nickname "Christmas Capital of the Philippines".