Christmas celebrations in the Philippines typically begin in September (in the sense that you start hearing Christmas carols and seeing Christmas decorations both in stores and in homes). It’s generally accepted that once you reach the months ending in -ber, you can start celebrating. Christmas is one of our most celebrated holidays, so we typically pull out all the stops. There are a lot of traditions so I’m going to put each paragraph under a summary, just so it doesn’t seem to be a wall of text.
Christmas Decorations in Homes
Decorations may start as early as September. Typically the trappings in houses will include a Christmas tree, the decorations for the tree usually being colorful round baubles that may or may not match the tree. Another important Christmas decoration is a belen, a representation of the birth of Jesus in the manger. Christmas lights are also a big part of the decor, and they can be put anywhere inside or outside a house. Most decorations are taken down in January, but there is the odd establishment that leaves up Christmas decorations all year round.
Parols
Parols are also a big part of Christmas decorations and there is guaranteed to be at least one parol-making contest every year in your town/city/school/other group. Parols are star-shaped (usually star-shaped) lanterns that may have lights in them and symbolize the Star of Bethlehem. They’re traditionally made of paper and sticks, but you can make them out of anything. Some of the materials usually used in parol-making contests are soft drink bottles and caps, capiz shells (these are apparently called windowpane oysters), hemp fiber, and CDs.
Christmas Decorations in Public Places
Almost every business establishment will have some sort of Christmas decor. Christmas lights of varying colors and intensity are strewn everywhere, and many public places like parks become festooned with Christmas lights, Santas and reindeer, and parols. In schools, people will generally decorate the classrooms with these parols and Chinese pineapple decorations (I don’t exactly know why we use a symbol of Chinese New Year in Christmas decorations, but it’s also part of tradition.) The greetings “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year” are usually put up in classrooms and almost all public places. There are also large-scale belen that are put up outdoors, and there might also be a belen making competition, but it’s not as ubiquitious as parols.
Christmas Carols
Christmas caroling for very small sums of change and candy varies among neighborhoods, but there’s typically at least a few even in the larger urban areas and carolers interrupting left and right in the smaller provincial areas, especially in the weeks surrounding Christmas. Children do the bulk of Christmas caroling in small groups, although there are occasional adult carolers. One of the more notable caroling instruments consists of a coil of wire with hammered metal bottle caps (called “tansan”) strung along the length. Most people call it a tambourine, but it’s not exactly one.
Night Mass
Night mass (“Simbang Gabi”) is held for nine days, typically in the hours of early morning. This is also usually attended with your family. The last mass is held on Christmas Eve, and is called Misa de Gallo or Misa de Aguinaldo. After night mass, many people eat rice cakes (“kakanin”), usually bibinka and puto bumbong. It’s said when you complete all the days of Simbang Gabi, you get a wish granted to you.
Nochebuena
Nochebuena is the night of Christmas eve. It’s traditional to eat dinner at midnight on Nochebuena. Some examples of traditional food is a ham (usually glazed and sweet) and queso de bola which is a ball of cheese covered with red (edible) wax. This cheese is one of the most well-known symbols of Nochebuena and has a distinctive taste. This is also the only time of the year where queso de bola is served. It’s almost unheard of to eat this cheese at any other time of the year (unless it’s New Year, where there may be some left over from Christmas).
Other Traditions
People typically visit relatives and have large-scale family reunions around this time. This includes cousins from every branch of the family tree imaginable, and grandparents and great-grandparents, and grand-aunts and grand-uncles. When you are a child/toddler/teenager/not an adult, you typically receive gifts of money (usually crisp new bank notes obtained especially for this purpose. Kids are usually very proud of these bills and might refuse to spend them because of their crispness. There may be a challenge on who can keep the bank notes crisp the longest.). These gifts are called aguinaldo. Kids can also solicit these gifts from godparents.
In schools, there will often be a Christmas party and an exchange of gifts. The person you will give a gift to is chosen randomly through draw lots, and typically schools demand that you keep silent about this. Students may have wish lists.
Christmas celebration ends with Three Kings’ Day, where everyone takes down the Christmas decor and return to normal life.
I’m an atheist but I personally celebrate Christmas because my family does, and also because I like gifts.
