San Fernando (Pampanga)

San Fernando is a city and capital of the province of Pampanga, known as the Christmas Capital of the Philippines.

Understand
While surpassed by Angeles as the largest city and commercial center of Pampanga, San Fernando is the political, administrative, religious and cultural center of Pampanga. It is rich in culture and history, with a downtown filled with historic buildings.

San Fernando is also the "Christmas Capital of the Philippines", and every December, it holds the Giant Lantern (Parol) Festival, showcasing the handmade star-shaped Christmas lanterns created by local crafters. The city also has a Christmas-themed park, which is open all year round.

San Fernando is named after King Ferdinand II of Spain, also the patron of the city.

By bus
Victory Liner, Genesis Transport, Bataan Transit and Philtranco have buses from Manila westward towards Bataan, Olongapo, and Zambales. There are no buses to Ilocos that stop here.



By car
San Fernando lies at a major highway crossroads; the toll North Luzon Expressway, and national highways MacArthur Highway and Jose Abad Santos Avenue meet here.

By plane
The nearest airports with passenger flights are Clark International Airport in Angeles and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA, ) in Manila.

By train
Rail service ceased on the late 1980s. While the tracks have long been dismantled, San Fernando's heritage station remained, and is preserved as it is the endpoint of the Bataan Death March (find at ). The Manila-Clark Railway (under construction since 2018, though still in the clearing process) is planned to open by 2022 or 2024 (from Malolos to Clark Airport), and the new San Fernando station will be somewhere near the heritage station.

By jeepney
You can hop onto a colorful jeepney which takes you most corners of the city, but most run only at major roads

See
San Fernando has a historical downtown district, containing many heritage buildings dating back to both the Spanish and American colonial eras. There are 32 historical buildings and structures contained in that district, some of them damaged by neglect, repairs, or squatting.



Festivals

 * Ligligan Parul (Giant Parol Festival)(December)

Religiously observances

 * Crucifixions at San Pedro Cutud (Good Friday) - realistic reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus, where penitents, usually men, are crucified on the hill in the barangay of San Pedro Cutud.