When many of the world nonetheless has its thoughts on summer season holidays or back-to-school buying, Filipinos are already dusting off their Christmas lights and queuing up festive songs.
As quickly as September begins, the Philippines transforms right into a country-wide Christmas wonderland, marking the beginning of what’s extensively recognised because the longest Christmas season on the earth.
Whereas the official vacation remains to be celebrated on 25 December, the Filipino Christmas spirit stretches from September proper by means of to early January.
However what precisely makes the Philippines so keen to begin Christmas 4 months forward of schedule? The explanations run deep, rooted in tradition, religion, household traditions, and even a contact of financial technique.
The ‘Ber Months’ Custom
For Filipinos, the phrase “It’s the ber months” carries a particular which means. September, October, November, and December are affectionately grouped collectively because the festive stretch of the calendar.
As soon as September arrives, Christmas carols start to play on the radio, buying malls put up dazzling decorations, and households begin planning reunions.
This phenomenon is not only about being holiday-obsessed. It displays the significance of anticipation and preparation in Filipino tradition. Christmas is seen as the final word season of pleasure, generosity, and togetherness.
By starting the celebrations early, they can lengthen the interval of happiness and create extra alternatives to assemble with family members.
Religion and Colonial Roots
The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic nation, with over 80% of its inhabitants figuring out as Roman Catholic. The religion’s affect on Filipino life can’t be overstated, and Christmas, celebrating the delivery of Jesus Christ, is essentially the most vital non secular vacation of the yr.
The custom of lengthy preparations may be traced again to Spanish colonial occasions, when Catholicism was launched and festivals surrounding main non secular occasions usually stretched throughout weeks.
The customized of early anticipation was step by step woven into the native tradition, finally cementing September because the unofficial begin of the Christmas season.
Household, Meals, and Togetherness
One of many strongest causes Christmas begins so early within the Philippines is the worth positioned on household and group. The vacation season is a time for reunions, with Abroad Filipino Employees (OFWs) usually returning dwelling to be with family members. For a lot of households separated by work or migration, the lengthy season ensures loads of time to reconnect.
Meals is one other centrepiece of the celebrations. Conventional delicacies like bibingka (rice desserts baked in clay pots) and puto bumbong (purple rice desserts steamed in bamboo tubes) are staples at Christmas markets and after church providers. The enduring Noche Buena feast on Christmas Eve is anticipated for months, with households planning and saving early to make it particular.
The prolonged lead-up permits Filipinos to savour these moments step by step, turning Christmas into greater than a single day however a life-style of celebration.
Comparisons With Different Nations
In most components of the world, Christmas is confined to December, with occasional hints of vacation advertising and marketing showing in late November. Western international locations usually see Christmas start after Thanksgiving in america or the beginning of Introduction in Europe.
In distinction, the Philippines don’t look ahead to a proper marker. As quickly because the calendar hits September, the season begins in earnest. Whereas some cultures may see this as dashing, for Filipinos it’s a level of pleasure, a technique to categorical their heat, hospitality, and joyful spirit.
Past December: Celebrating Into January
What actually makes the Filipino Christmas outstanding is just not solely how early it begins, however how lengthy it lasts. The season doesn’t finish on 25 December. As a substitute, it stretches into the Feast of the Three Kings in early January, also referred to as Epiphany. In some communities, traditions lengthen even additional, mixing Christmas with New 12 months festivities.
This elongated celebration ensures that the spirit of generosity, religion, and pleasure lingers properly past the primary vacation. It’s each a cultural assertion and a supply of nationwide id.
