The holidays are mostly about tradition. One of mine is being able to attend the UP community's annual lantern parade. I attended them when I was still a student in the university and I still attend the event yearly as an alumni.
One thing I noticed about this year's floats and lanterns was that there were less large-scale, grand, colorful group projects from the different colleges, offices and organizations. Save for some lanterns from the College of Fine Arts, this year's lanterns were mostly small held by, operated by or mounted onto one or two people.
Of course, UP would not be UP without advocacy and protest. And the community welcomes them, even those advocating what would be unpopular opinions in a very liberal environment. Think UP students against the RH Bill. You would think that that idea would be unthinkable, but in the case of some students, it is not.
Some colleges, and by that I mean colleges other than the College of Fine Arts, stood out this year, most especially the College of Science with their enormous beaker and test tubes, and the energy-themed, Meralco-sponsored College of Engineering.
Finally, and this has to be said every year, the College of Fine Arts takes the cake with their nautical-themed floats and lanterns. Every student, every class, every organization paraded their own sea-inspired projects.
As with tradition, the night is capped off with Beta Epsilon's fireworks display, something which never seem to disappoint the spectators of the parade. And when the last flare exploded into a colorful frenzy in the night sky, every one knew that the holiday vacation was officially begun. Christmas has indeed arrived.
More photos in my Flickr set: UP Diliman: Lantern Parade 2010.
Labels: christmas, lantern parade, up
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