The giant lanterns featured in the Philippines' Giant Lantern Festival are called parols.
A parol is a Filipino ornamental lantern traditionally associated with Christmas and the holiday season. The Giant Lantern Festival, held in San Fernando, Pampanga, showcases enormous illuminated parols in a competition involving elaborate designs, synchronized lights, and sometimes musical effects. The event takes place before New Year's Eve but is part of the extended Christmas celebrations that continue into the new year in the Philippines.
The lantern's basic form is often a star, recalling the Star of Bethlehem. Traditional parols were made from bamboo and Japanese paper; modern competition lanterns use more durable frames, electric systems, and thousands of bulbs. Their scale and engineering distinguish them from the smaller household lanterns seen across the country.
The festival is sometimes mislabeled as a New Year's Eve fireworks event. Its focus is lantern craftsmanship and display, while fireworks and other countdown customs belong to separate celebrations. San Fernando is widely known as the Christmas Lantern Capital of the Philippines.