Pampanga holds the title of being the Culinary Capital of the Philippines as they offer some of the best Filipino dishes, but there’s more to this Central Luzon province that just good food. Aside from being home to the highly urbanized and modern city of Clark, you can also go here for hiking trips, or attend crowd-favorite festivals that feature hot air balloons and beautiful displays of Christmas lanterns. Pampanga is just a couple of hours away from Manila, so add this destination to your travel list when in the Philippines for a culinary adventure, nature trips, and fun colorful festivals.
PHILIPPINE INTERNATIONAL HOT-AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL
The annual festival features air-sporting events like hot-air balloon competition, aircraft maneuvers and precision flying, ultralights, RC Demonstration Flying, sky diving, aircarft rally, rocketeering, flag jump, balloon bursting competition, kite flying, trade fair, carnival rides and nightly concerts. The participation of international hot-air balloons from all over the world draws thousands of people to the site to witness the early morning balloon fly-out and late afternoon fly-in. The festival was initiated by the Department of Tourism in 1994 by then Secretary Mina Gabor to rescucitate the fledgling spirit of the Kapampangans – only three years following the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The tourism regional office led by Regional Director Ronaldo Tiotuico handled the initial stages of the project in cooperation with Clark Development Corp. and the local government of Angeles City before turning it over to the Hot Air Balloon Club of the Philippines under the leadership of Capt. Joy Roa of Air Ads, Inc. in 1999.
GIANT LANTERN FESTIVAL
Rising at 18 feet in diameter and fitted with close to 7,000 bulbs that blink on and off through a number of rotors in sync with a medley of Filipino Christmas songs, these giant lanterns let out not less than 10 designs that feature geometric shapes, flowers, fans, cones and hearts glowing in all colours of the rainbow. The exhibition is usually capped by the opening of the innermost circle in half to reveal in full bloom what the lantern makers designed to be the showcase of their presentation like the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the grand applause from a crowd estimated at 20,000 each year. The festival is participated in by some 8-10 villages of the City San Fernando in Pampanga with each one creating its own design, colour combination and interplay of lights and sound. The city is known as the lantern capital of the Philippines.
