"The darkness of failure fades when the bright lights of success appear. Amen!"

[VIGAN, ILOCOS SUR, PHILIPPINES] ► The absence of a light is a necessary part—hey there, Jason Mraz!—for some people who need to learn the hard way. Some had to experience darkness for them to appreciate and be thankful of the coming of the light. For the Raniag Flight of Sky Lantern, the darkness is a necessary part so that the sky lanterns would stand out. It's like life. The darkness of failure fades when the bright lights of success appear. Amen!

RANIAG ELECTRIC FLOAT PARADE 2016, VIGAN

[VIGAN] ► HELLO! WELCOME TO VIGAN!

Jardin de Caridad

Jardin de Caridad, a privately-owned cemetery, was the venue (and it has always been the venue since then) of the flight of sky lantern, a mainstay event of the annual Raniag Twilight Festival.

Jardin de Caridad seemed to be the best venue for this event due to the following reasons:

Raniag Festival is a Halloween-themed festival. The cemetery is consistent with the theme.
Jardin de Caridad is centrally located in Vigan. It's accessible for everybody.
It has a wide open lawn. There's none to little obstruction with minimal risk of creating fire incidents to properties around.

Immediately after my work that day, I went home to get my camera to document this event. It has always been a hit. You know, the organizer (which is the Local Government Unit of Vigan) didn't need to push a bloody promotion for this. It has always been a crowd-drawer since its debut. This led me into conclusion that we, the people of Vigan, love supporting our community activities and gatherings. Mind you, you have to pay for your lantern if you want to join. Everyone cared to pay. Because of Vigan's active community participation, all our cultural activities, events and festivals never became flop (not to mention the tourist joiners that add spice to our community spirit of unity and Ilocano pride).

[VIGAN] ► THESE MILLENIALS WERE HERE HOURS BEFORE THE START OF THE EVENT.

[VIGAN] ► THAT HUGE LIGHT WAS TURNED OFF DURING THE FLIGHT.

[VIGAN] ► THIS SKY LANTERN FLEW SOLO.

[VIGAN] ► I THINK THIS WAS A SWEET FATHER AND SON TANDEM.

[VIGAN] ► THE SON WAS HOPING THE LANTERN TO FINALLY FLY!

[VIGAN] ► SUCCESSFUL!

[VIGAN] ► THERE YOU GO.

[VIGAN] ► SKY LANTERNS BRIGHTENED THE SKY.

[VIGAN] ► THIS WAS THE EVENT CROWD.

[VIGAN] ► HAPPY RANIAG FESTIVAL 2016 VIGAN!

The event was opened by a prayer. Traditionally, that's been the opening trend. This flight of sky lanterns is part of the pre-Halloween week-long Raniag Twilight Festival, the first festival in Luzon to have this kind of event. This flight of lantern started in 2010.

You want to see the event in motion? Check out the video below. Don't forget to subscribe for more videos of town exploration like this.

YouTube Zone

Insights and Final Words

The 2016 version of this event happened on 23 October 2016. It's quite earlier compared last year.
The sky was great! No rain! It was a perfect timing for the flying objects to decorate the sky.
The event didn't start on time. Filipino time prevailed.
It's my first time to blog this event here on EDMARATION #TownExplorer (although I've already written this before on www.choosephilippines.com and my other blog www.exploreilocos.com).

My hometown Vigan has redefined the meaning of Halloween for us and I think I'm liking it. See you again next year! | end |

MORE POSTS COVERING RANIAG TWILIGHT FESTIVAL 2016

24 OCTOBER 2016: FLIGHT OF SKY LANTERN
VIGAN, ILOCOS SUR PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES
[VIGAN] ► HELLO! WELCOME TO VIGAN!

► FOOTNOTES, DISCLAIMERS, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, ETC

[1] This post was filed under the category "Night Leisure" There is a section below where you can see other related posts from this category.

[2] All maps I used on this post are from Google Maps.

[3] All photos are mine.

[4] The insights, condition and name of places or properties I mentioned here are based on the facts and situation on the day of my visit. Take note that you may have a different experience when you try or see the properties or places mentioned here. Names of places and properties may also change by time so it's not my responsibility to update all the information on this blog because once published, I already consider it an archive and I won't update my narratives because I want them to become my references of what have happened in the past. I'm very particular of the dates because I want my amazing readers to understand that I am writing stories based on my perspective and insights on the day of my visit. You can see dates almost everywhere on this blog. Exempted from this rule are my travel guide posts that need to be updated.