As the holidays approach, College of Fine Arts (CFA) students begin to get busier as they craft their humongous lanterns whose hues will illuminate the campus to mark the end of the semester. It typically takes teams months of brainstorming to finish assembling their lantern floats.
This December, however, CFA students begin their lantern floats later than usual—adding further pressure as they strive to unleash their creativity while scrambling to meet the tight deadline.
However, Mia*, a second-year Visual Communication student said their block was only informed of the theme around late October, giving them less than two months to finish the year’s floats.
“The theme was released late October … tapos you have to spend a lot of time refining the idea that you have, the concept that you have, before you can move on to the production itself, which is a whole other thing,” said Mia.
CFA requires all freshie and sophomore blocks to participate in the annual Lantern Parade, serving as a graded task for 20% in some Fine Arts major subjects. While the first-year students are encouraged to create costume lanterns, the second-year students are tasked to build lantern floats.

The Lantern Parade has been a longstanding tradition in the University of the Philippines (UP) since 1922. Its concept dates back to the Spanish colonial period when Filipinos carried lanterns as they made their way to early Christmas morning Masses. In 1934, former UP president Jorge C. Bocobo institutionalized the event to give students “a frolicsome activity” at the end of the semester and the year.
The Lantern Parade later became a custom for all UP campuses, an annual showcase of students’ talents through their floats. In CFA, competition is ever so fierce—unlike other colleges, it has its own separate team. This year, the floats will revolve around perya, a reinterpretation of carnivals that reflect the values, aspirations, and artistry of Filipinos.
With the theme revealed later than usual, it was only then the students had an idea about what they were working with—challenging themselves to go above and beyond despite the small time window.

Laurein*, another second-year Visual Communication student, said they had to sacrifice personal time, rest, and academic work just for the sake of production.
“Individually, I had to compromise time a lot. Time and my rest are also compromised because we are also rushing. We’re proud of our pace right now but we have to really keep on pushing because we have so little time left,” they said.
CFA students’ production time has dwindled each year since the resumption of face-to-face classes, said college student council Chairperson Aidrey Garcia. When he was a freshman in 2022, the design planning stage for Lantern Parade floats kicked off in October that year but was pushed back to the second week of November the following year.
While most classes allot time for students to work on their floats, CFA students said they are still struggling due to the time constraints and the “overwhelming” amount of responsibilities they have to attend to.
“We are all stressed. As much as the majors gave us time for conceptualizing, our professors are also asking about our progress about the float. We still have requirements outside of the float, so we have to juggle our time while rushing and conceptualizing this [the lantern float],” said Laurein.

Confusion Brewed
Aside from the Lantern Parade, CFA hosts its annual halloween arts and music event, Muertos, where students can sell their artwork to raise funds for lantern production. Traditionally organized by the college administration, Garcia was surprised when CFA officials asked the council to lead the revival of Muertos this year.
The halloween event was founded by the UP Artist Circle Fraternity and Sorority in 2014. However, it was postponed for two years due to the pandemic, had a small-scale return in 2022 and 2023, and made its official comeback in 2024.
“Kinausap lang kami, informally … bigla siyang na-brought up sa amin ng [professor] namin na we have to bring Muertos back. Siyempre, lahat ng tao, excited, so we involved ourselves, [pero] nagulat na lang kami na parang kami na ‘yung nag-organize, but hindi naman dapat gano’n,” said Garcia.
Muertos was divided into two events—the Latagan where blocks would conduct their fundraising through their art and the Tugtugan where various musical artists and drag queens were invited to perform. These were held on Nov. 7 and 8, respectively.
Gwen*, an industrial design freshman, said the “mishaps” during Muertos were only one of the many occurrences of CFA admin’s poor communication with the students, being ever more apparent during larger events such as the Lantern Parade.
“We experience it in other events as well. The most recent was the Muertos. That’s the one I saw that was faulty with the admin. The expectation [was that] the admin was going to be able to take care of it,” they said.

With little to no proper information dissemination, Mia and Laurein only began planning for the Lantern Parade after hearing rumors about crucial details, such as the floats’ theme and deadlines.
“Sobrang nakakadismaya talaga na parang malalaman mo na lang sa iba instead of like, [from] someone na fast naman talaga to handle that … The Lantern Parade has been going on for so long, and to have it so poorly managed this year,” said Laurein.

Amid growing frustration among students, CFA Dean Marc San Valentin explained that the communication structure within the college is designed so that information flows from the college secretary to the Lantern Parade committee, then to department chairs, and finally to students through their instructors.
“Kasi sila [instructors] ‘yung mag-manage ng kanya-kanyang classes. Nagkakaroon ng confusion because a lot of information emanates from outside that structure. So, ‘yung hindi clear, they usually would ask people who are not within that structure,” explained San Valentin.
The college dean also emphasized that their communication channels are always open, and they maintain an open-door policy when handling students’ grievances and manifestations.
San Valentin also confirmed that this year’s Lantern Parade timetable is significantly shorter than the previous years due to multiple class suspensions. “I would probably say that the time is shorter now compared to five, six, even seven years ago,” said San Valentin.
Since they have to extend deadlines for plate submissions, the production time reserved for the Lantern Parade has diminished, he added.
“It’s [the Lantern Parade] our grade for three subjects or almost all. So it’s not something that we can push aside. For others, it’s just a minor event that they can overlook. [But] for us, it’s a major event,” said second-year Visual Communication student Sarah*.
For other UP students, the Lantern Parade may just be another event to look forward to at the end of the semester. However, beneath it lies months of dedication and sleepless nights of Fine Arts students who try to push their limits as true artista ng bayan.
“If we were given more time, the quality of it [lanterns] would be way more different. But I feel like we would be able to finish on time and hopefully with faster flying colors,” said Laurein.
*Editor’s note: The real names of CFA students Mia, Laurein, Sarah, and Gwen are altered upon their request for privacy.