SASKATOON — Christmas is a big event for Filipinos, with some going to great lengths in celebrating the most festive season of the year. Some might find it a bit of an exaggeration, but for Filipinos, Christmas starts as soon as the clock strikes midnight on Sept. 1, part of the famed “BER months” tradition (September to December).
Radio DJs start playing popular Christmas carols and songs, while malls begin planning decorations that are sure to be a wondrous sight and capture the attention of people, young and old. Some would say Filipinos celebrate the season the longest, as it ends on the Feast of the Epiphany, traditionally observed on Jan. 6, commemorating the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus.
The province has a significant Filipino population of almost 44,000 people. These people have brought with them most of the traditions they observed growing up in the Philippines. Statistics Canada’s 2021 census showed that Filipinos make up 14,355 of Saskatoon's estimated population of 319,428 and 11,995 of Regina’s estimated population of 231,000.
The local Filipino community has brought many of its traditions to the Prairies, blending the warmth of home with the cold Canadian winter weather. Some observe the “BER months” tradition and start putting up Christmas decorations early, since Halloween is not a major celebration for Filipinos, even for those residing here. Some might find it too early, but it makes sense — who wants to put up decorations as the weather gets colder and snow can arrive as early as November?
You can often spot a Filipino home by its Christmas decorations and lights, especially if there is a colourful parol — a five-pointed star lantern usually handcrafted from bamboo and colourful paper — hanging in the window and glowing in the winter darkness. Some Filipino stores sell this ornament shipped from Manila, though it now has a modern twist with LED lights. There is even a city, San Fernando in Pampanga province in the Philippines, that holds an annual Giant Lantern Festival, where colourful lanterns, some towering 20 feet, light up the night sky. For Filipinos, the parol symbolizes hope because it guided the Magi to where the promised Messiah was born.
Filipinos in Saskatoon have also brought the tradition of Simbang Gabi (dawn or night Mass), a nine-day devotional mass leading up to Christmas Eve. The tradition began in the 1600s when the Philippines was still a Spanish colony, where priests celebrated mass before the cock crowed — usually around 4 a.m. — during the Christmas season to allow farmers to attend daily mass before tending to their crops.
Although it cannot be held during pre-dawn hours in Saskatoon, Filipinos have adapted by holding services in the evening. At one point, Saskatoon’s Filipino Catholic community held Simbang Gabi for nine days at different churches within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, culminating on the final day with a celebration led by Bishop Mark Hagemoen.
For many, attending Simbang Gabi is both a spiritual commitment and a way to stay connected to Filipino cultural roots. It is also believed — a superstition that contradicts Catholic teaching — that if you complete all nine masses, you can make a wish and it will come true. After mass, community members often linger, sharing hot beverages such as salabat (ginger tea) or tsokolate batirol, a Filipino version of hot chocolate, along with traditional snacks like bibingka and puto bumbong, two types of Filipino rice cakes. Bibingka is typically topped with salted egg and cheese, while puto bumbong is made from purple yams, giving it its distinctive colour. Filipino ingenuity is often on display, as many have managed to recreate these treats despite living on the Prairies.
In the Philippines, the communal spirit of the Christmas season culminates in the celebration of Noche Buena on the eve of Dec. 25, when families gather for a feast, give thanks for a year filled with blessings — big or small — and exchange gifts. These gatherings are a hallmark of Philippine culture, with the country sprinkled with hundreds of fiestas and other celebrations, mostly tied to a patron saint or religious event. Filipino migrants have carried that tradition with their second families here in the city.
Festive parties are held by different Filipino organizations in Saskatoon’s community and church halls, featuring lively games, raffles with prizes, talent shows, dancing and the Secret Santa-style gift exchange known as “Monito Monita.” Of course, no Filipino celebration is complete without karaoke, where everyone’s singing talent comes out. These events often draw hundreds of attendees, making them among the most significant holiday celebrations on Saskatoon’s multicultural calendar.
Food has always been the binding element of these gatherings, which are sometimes potlucks where everyone contributes a special dish of their own making. Tables are filled with familiar Filipino favourites such as pancit (stir-fried noodles), lechon (roasted pig), lumpia (spring rolls), pineapple-glazed ham, queso de bola (a ball of cheese), sweet-style spaghetti, and traditional meat dishes such as menudo (pork), afritada (chicken), caldereta (beef or goat), dinuguan (pork cooked in pig’s blood) and kare-kare (oxtail, beef or seafood in peanut sauce) — mixing tradition with ingenuity by using local ingredients.
With today’s technology, those who still have family living in the Philippines rely on video calls to stay connected — a far cheaper option than decades ago, when making an international long-distance call could cost an arm and a leg. Tears often fall as memories of the simpler Christmas celebrations they enjoyed growing up surface.
On Christmas Day, children visit their Ninongs and Ninangs (baptismal godparents) to ask for their aguinaldo (gifts, either money or toys). Families often spend the day in malls or parks, enjoying it as a non-working holiday. Friends and families also take in movies.
The only Filipino Christmas tradition that cannot easily be done in Saskatoon is going house to house singing carols. Who would want to walk outside, knocking on doors, when it feels like minus 40 C? Instead, some singers, church choirs and choral groups visit senior care homes and community centres to serenade residents with festive Christmas carols. Others visit group homes and facilities run by non-profit organizations, where they share traditional and popular Christmas songs.
Filipino communities in Saskatoon and around the world continue to carry the traditions they grew up with wherever they go. While they adapt and find creative ways to celebrate Christmas, many say it still feels different when they are not spending it with loved ones back home in the Philippines.
