Lanterns were first paraded by University of the Philippines students, faculty, employees, and campus residents way back in 1922 in the Padre Faura, Manila campus. The practice is said to have come from a Filipino custom during Spanish times when people going to church to attend the traditional Misa de Gallo carried specially designed lanterns to light their way.

In 1934, UP President Jorge C. Bocobo institutionalized the practice to mark the last day of classes prior to the Christmas break with a lantern parade. Back then, the parade would start from the University Quadrangle on Padre Faura Street to Taft Avenue, Isaac Peral (United Nations Avenue) and Florida (Maria Orosa) Streets, and end in front of the UP building where the Court of Appeals now stands.

In the 1920s and 1930s, huge and symbolic floats were already very much a part of the parade. Two photos illustrate this. According to the UP Diliman Information Office, participants would vie for the titles of the “rowdiest group,” “most colorful costume,” and “most symbolic.”
 
 In 1949, the campus at Diliman was launched. There, the Lantern Parade marched along the Academic Oval and converged where the Church of the Holy Sacrifice now stands. The photograph depicting a rustic “botika ng bayan” depicts the parade during that era. 
 
 

The Lantern Parade also became a venue for pageantry. One of the Lantern Parade highlights was the proclamation of the Lantern Queen, which counts among its winners actress Boots Anson-Roa and Queen of the Pacific and activist Nelia Sancho. Sancho, as depicted on the photograph, was named Lantern Queen in 1969, the last Parade before the annual activity was disrupted for seven years due to martial law. Also featured is a photo of Lantern Queens in the late ‘60s with Chancellor Gigi Javier Alfonso.
 

 “The Christmas lantern parade became a venue of student protests as early as 1964, when the SCAUP [Student Cultural Association of UP] had a float with Jun Tera in the stance and uniform of a Vietnamese guerrilla. Instead of Christmas carols the students sang the Internationale,” recalls Elmer Ordoñez. The spirit of activism did not wane when the Parade was revived in 1977. Participants carried torches while marching around the Academic Oval. A photograph shows UP President Onofre Corpuz and Prof. Virginia Dandan during the parade when it resumed in the 1970s.
 
There were other times when the Parade was disrupted. During the Japanese Occupation from 1941 to 1945, classes were disrupted and no Lantern Parades were held. In 1957, students boycotted the parade in protest of the indecision of the Board of Regents to select a permanent UP president, and from 1970 to 1977, the period of the First Quarter Storm, there were no Lantern Parades. Last year, the Lantern Parade was postponed due to security threats.

The parade usually ends with a grand presentation of lanterns. The  lantern presentation is marked by music, dancing, and merry-making. Because of the diverse constituency of the University, lanterns and presentations are equally diverse. Of varied shapes and sizes, the lanterns are statements. A photo shows a gigantic “volunteer” lantern by Pahinungod volunteers and an effigy of a political figure by UP’s militant constituents.
 
 The College of Music would have a choreographed band and the UP Babaylan would parade in a mock beauty contest. In recent years, the presentation of the College of Fine Arts has become the festivity’s piece de resistance. The whole college takes months to conceptualize its lanterns and their presentation.

The tradition of the Lantern Parade is now replicated in all UP constituent units. These photos show UPV, UPLB, and UPMin parades. 
  
A much-awaited annual event, the UP Lantern Parade has come to symbolize how UP constituents, residents, alumni, and friends gather together to present the best they have to offer while celebrating the holidays as one community.

(Black and white photos taken from A University for Filipinos, 1984)