to honor President Manuel L. Quezon. At that time, Quezon made Arayat his rest area and converted Mount Arayat into a tourist resort. As a show of gratitude to Quezon, the people of San Fernando held a Christmas lantern contest to honor the first family. Quezon himself donated the prize for his lantern contest, which was personally awarded to the winner by First Lady Aurora Aragon Quezon. It was only cancelled in 1978 and 1979 when the country declared Martial Law. In the years that followed, more innovations were introduced to the giant lanterns. Colored plastics replaced traditional papel de hapon. The use of colored plastics will continue on until 2010, wherein fiberglass and handmade paper will make their first appearances on the lanterns. Large steel barrels called rotors also substituted the hand-controlled switches to manipulate the lights. And lanterns have grown in size, approximately 20-feet today, and illuminated by about 3,500 to 5,000 light bulbs. The festival was almost postponed in 1991 due to the cataclysmic Mount Pinatubo eruption. From 1990 to 1998, the festival's venue was in Paskuhan Village. The festival was then held at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in 1999. In 2000, the venue was moved again to SM City Pampanga until 2007. In 2008 up until present day, the venue is now at Robinsons Starmills. In 2011, Brgy. Calulut and Brgy. Del Carmen joined the competition for the first time. In 2015, Brgy's. Sindalan and Pandaras, also joined the competition for the first time. Last December 17, 2016, Brgy. Dolores achieved a grand slam champion after they won in three competitive years last 2014, 2015 & 2016. Followed by Brgy. Calulut and Brgy. Sindalan as 1st & 2nd runner up. In 2017, the number of lights are limited to 10,000 light bulbs for each Giant Lantern participants. Last December 16, 2017, Brgy. Dolores once again won this year's competition for the fourth time. Followed by Brgy. San Jose & Brgy. Del Pilar as 1st & 2nd runner up. Also, Brgy. Del Rosario joined the competition for the first time. In 2018, Brgy. Dolores did not participate this year after winning a hall-of-fame last year. Also, 3 participating barangays are coming back for the competition namely San Pedro, Sto. Nino & Del Carmen. And, for the first time in the history, a female-lead lantern maker from Brgy. San Jose competed in the festival. Last December