CALIFORNIA - The energetic and creative Filipino-American students of Kasamahan of the University of San Francisco is this year’s Tala Award Grand Prize winner, besting the 25 contingents of the San Francisco 7th Annual Parol Lantern Festival, including the defending champion Canon Kip Senior Center.
“The scoring is tight,” said artist Carlo Ricafort, one of the three-person jury. “There are many outstanding and beautifully crafted and well-lit parol.”
Since the launching of the Tala Awards in 2006 for the San Francisco Annual Parol Lantern Festival, participating contingents have showcased their creative talents in both designing collective parol and group presentation.
In Ricafort’s notes: The USF-Kasamahan parol “was a five-foot, 10-point star, yellow with gold paper parol, structurally a more challenging choice of shape and was lit well. Traditional and yet the overall appearance was beautiful. What added to their parol (bonus points) was their presentation/formation. They showed up not just their numbers but in focused enthusiasm. They took their participation seriously and it looked like they rehearsed. They definitely embodied this year's theme of ‘Light the Way, Be Counted.’”
Canon Kip Senior Center, the 2008 Tala Award grand prize winner, is not far behind. “They stood out because each member of the organization made a parol with his/her picture on it and many, if not every one, of the parols were lit.” according to another judge. “It was consistent with the theme ‘Be counted.’ The parol with the backlit photos was really cool and clever; the colors could have popped out a little more, maybe layering light-colored cellophane behind the photos for effect.”
The third place went to Veterans Equity Center’s structurally innovative map-like image of the US covered with flags and accompanying lights. The other lanterns that stood out were from The Women Contingents, SOMCAN, Bayan-USA/Filipino Community Center, Skyline College’s Kababayan, Chi-Omicron, Hogan’s High School of Vallejo, and PACE of San Francisco State University.
The strong winds and rains outside the church did not dampen the radiance of the parol and the peoples’ enthusiasm for the annual event. Despite the drizzly weather, a parol gallery was also mounted at the wall of Jessie Square, the plaza adjacent to St. Patrick’s Church.
The Parol Lantern Festival was held last December 12 at the St. Patrick’s Church. The annual festival is presented by the Filipino American Development Foundation and KulArts and in close partnership with the MJM Management, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, St. Patrick’s Parish, and supported in part by the PG&E, Alliance of California Traditional Arts, and Grants for the Arts. The media partners are ABS-CBN International, Asian Week Foundation, and INQUIRER.net.
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