---
title: "Christmas in the Philippines: Simbang Gabi, Parol, Noche Buena"
description: "How the Philippines celebrates the world’s longest Christmas season: the ber months, Simbang Gabi, parol lanterns, Noche Buena, monito monita and Media Noche."
url: https://decomytree.link/blog/christmas-in-the-philippines
language: en
last_updated: 2026-11-08
---

Blog · Around the world

# Christmas in the Philippines: Simbang Gabi, parol and the longest season

In most countries Christmas starts in December. In the Philippines it starts on September 1, and it doesn’t really end until January. Here is how the world’s longest Christmas season unfolds.

By [Ömer Ercan](https://decomytree.link/about#founder), founder

## The ber months

Filipinos call the last four months of the year the “ber months”: September, October, November and December. As soon as September begins, shopping centres play carols, radio stations switch to Christmas songs and the first lights go up. Every year the internet jokes that singer Jose Mari Chan, whose 1990 album “Christmas in Our Hearts” is the sound of the season, wakes up again on September 1.

Why so early? Christmas is the biggest holiday in a country where most people are Catholic, families are large, and many relatives work abroad and come home in December. A season this important deserves a long build-up.

## The season at a glance

| When | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| September 1 | Carols on the radio and in malls, first decorations |
| October to November | Lanterns go up, balikbayan boxes are sent home from abroad, office parties are booked |
| December 16 to 24 | Simbang Gabi, nine Masses before dawn |
| December 24, night | Noche Buena, the big family feast |
| December 25 | Visits to godparents, gifts for the children |
| December 31 | Media Noche and a very loud midnight |
| First Sunday of January | The Feast of the Three Kings closes the season |

## Parol, the Christmas star

The symbol of a Filipino Christmas is not the tree but the **parol**, a star-shaped lantern that stands for the star of Bethlehem. The classic one is a bamboo frame covered in thin coloured paper with two tails hanging down. Today you also see parols made of capiz shells, plastic and blinking LEDs, hanging in windows, on balconies and across whole streets.

The city of San Fernando in Pampanga is known as the Christmas capital of the Philippines. Every December it holds the Giant Lantern Festival, where neighbourhoods compete with lanterns several metres wide, lit by thousands of bulbs that pulse in patterns to music.

Make a simple parol

Tie five thin sticks into a star, add a second star behind it with short spacers, wrap the frame in coloured tissue paper and glue on two paper tails. Put a small LED light inside, never a candle.

## Simbang Gabi: nine dawn Masses

From December 16 to 24, churches hold **Simbang Gabi**, nine Masses usually around 4 or 5 in the morning (many parishes now add an evening Mass the night before). Churches overflow onto the street. A popular belief says that if you complete all nine, your wish will come true, so friends and couples often go together and keep count.

Half the fun is outside the church afterwards, where stalls sell breakfast in the cool morning air:

- **Bibingka:** a soft rice cake baked in a clay pot lined with banana leaves, with coals above and below, often topped with salted egg and cheese.
- **Puto bumbong:** purple sticky rice steamed in bamboo tubes, served with butter, brown sugar and grated coconut.
- **Salabat:** hot ginger tea, the perfect drink before sunrise.

## Noche Buena on Christmas Eve

After the last Simbang Gabi or the late Mass on December 24, families sit down to **Noche Buena**, a feast that often begins around midnight. Relatives come from far away, the table is full, and at midnight everyone hugs and greets each other. Brazil has a midnight feast too, the [ceia de Natal](https://decomytree.link/blog/christmas-in-brazil).

| On the table | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| Lechon | A whole roast pig with crackling skin, the star of big gatherings |
| Hamon | A sweet glazed Christmas ham |
| Queso de bola | A ball of Edam cheese in red wax, a Christmas must |
| Filipino spaghetti | Spaghetti with a sweet tomato sauce and sliced hot dogs, loved by children |
| Fruit salad | Fruit with cream and condensed milk, served cold |
| Tsokolate | Thick hot chocolate made from tablea, pure cacao tablets |

## Monito monita: Secret Santa, Filipino style

Offices, schools and friend groups play **monito monita**. Names are drawn weeks before the Christmas party, and every week everyone gives their secret friend a small gift on a theme, like “something sweet” or “something soft”. The real gift and the big reveal come at the party. Want to run one? Here are [our Secret Santa rules](https://decomytree.link/blog/secret-santa-rules).

## Carols and godparents

In December, children go from house to house singing carols, often with homemade instruments like a tambourine of flattened bottle caps on a wire. When the song ends they call out “Namamasko po!”, and the household gives them a few coins. If there is nothing to give, the playful answer is “Patawad!”, “forgive us!”.

At Christmas children visit their godparents, their **ninong** and **ninang**. They greet each one with the **mano**, gently pressing the elder’s hand to their forehead, and receive a gift or some money. With several godparents each, it can be a busy few days.

## Media Noche and a loud New Year

A week later comes **Media Noche**, the New Year’s Eve feast. Many families put twelve round fruits on the table, one for each month, for a year of plenty. People wear polka dots, because round shapes look like coins, and children jump at midnight in the hope of growing taller. The noise is the point: fireworks, horns, pots and pans, all to chase bad luck away.

## Christmas from far away

Millions of Filipinos work abroad, and Christmas is when distance hurts most. Weeks ahead they send **balikbayan boxes** home, cardboard boxes packed with chocolates, clothes and toys that can take a month or two by sea. On the night itself, families gather around a phone for a video call so everyone is at the same table.

Messages matter just as much. One way to collect them is a [Christmas tree](https://decomytree.link/create-tree) of messages: share the link with your family and friends wherever they are, and everyone hangs a gift with a note on it. The messages stay sealed until Christmas Day, so they all open together, like the gifts at Noche Buena. Not sure what to write? Here is [how to write a Christmas message](https://decomytree.link/blog/how-to-write-a-christmas-message).

## Useful phrases

| Filipino | In English |
| --- | --- |
| Maligayang Pasko! | Merry Christmas! |
| Manigong Bagong Taon! | Happy New Year! |
| Namamasko po! | What carollers and visiting children say for a Christmas gift |
| Simbang Gabi | The nine dawn Masses before Christmas |
| Noche Buena | The Christmas Eve feast |
| Parol | The Christmas star lantern |

Make your Christmas tree

Share it with your family, near and far, and open every message on Christmas Day.

- [Create your tree](https://decomytree.link/create-tree)
- [Send a message](https://decomytree.link/send-message)

## Questions

### When does Christmas start in the Philippines?

Unofficially on September 1, the start of the “ber months”, when carols and decorations appear. The season runs until the Feast of the Three Kings in early January.

### What is Simbang Gabi?

A series of nine Masses held before dawn from December 16 to 24. Many believe that completing all nine makes a wish come true.

### What do Filipinos eat at Noche Buena?

Lechon, a sweet Christmas ham, queso de bola, Filipino spaghetti, fruit salad and thick hot chocolate, shared around midnight on December 24.

## Sources

Facts checked against these pages on November 7, 2026.

1. [The country that celebrates Christmas for more than 4 months a year](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/21/philippines-the-longest-christmas-celebrations-in-the-world-.html), CNBC
2. [Christmas in the Philippines: Why Simbang Gabi is an important Filipino tradition](https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/2023/12/15/2318642/christmas-philippines-why-simbang-gabi-important-filipino-tradition), The Philippine Star
3. [The visual delight of the Filipino parol](https://verafiles.org/articles/the-visual-delight-of-the-filipino-parol), VERA Files
4. [Noche Buena: How Filipinos celebrate Christmas Eve with a traditional family feast](https://www.arabnews.pk/world/noche-buena-how-filipinos-celebrate-christmas-eve-with-a-traditional-family-feast-2584160), Arab News
5. [The Manito and the Manita](https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-lifestyle/2013/11/06/1253522/manito-and-manita), The Freeman, The Philippine Star
6. [Pinoy Pasko traditions, old and new](https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2023/12/03/2315928/pinoy-pasko-traditions-old-and-new), The Philippine Star
7. [How Filipinos welcome 2026: New Year traditions you should know](https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2025/12/31/how-filipinos-welcome-2026-new-year-traditions-you-should-know), The Star, from the Philippine Daily Inquirer

## More pages

- [Christmas in Brazil](https://decomytree.link/blog/christmas-in-brazil): Amigo secreto, a midnight ceia and Christmas in summer
- [Secret Santa rules](https://decomytree.link/blog/secret-santa-rules): Draw names, set a budget and keep it a secret until the end
- [Christmas around the world](https://decomytree.link/christmas-around-the-world): How the world celebrates, country by country
- [New Year’s Eve in Türkiye](https://decomytree.link/blog/new-years-eve-in-turkey): Why the tree goes up for New Year, with tombala and pomegranates