GenSan all set for ‘merrier, grander’ Christmas fest

This, as the city government and festival organizers said they are all set for the two-week festivity, which will kick off Saturday afternoon, Dec. 9. (Pixabay photo)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY— A “merrier and grander” Paskuhan sa Gensan, the city’s annual Christmas festival, will take the centerstage here starting this weekend.

This, as the city government and festival organizers said they are all set for the two-week festivity, which will kick off Saturday afternoon, Dec. 9.

Gildo Mosqueda, Paskuhan sa GenSan 2017 festival director, said Friday they have finalized the necessary arrangements and activities for the festival that will be centered anew at the city’s Plaza Heneral or oval plaza grounds.

“It’s all systems go and we’re ready for the festival,” he said in a press briefing.

The city government has set aside a funding of P4.5 million for the festival and tapped anew the Department of Education (DEpEd) city division as lead organizer.

Mosqueda, the DepEd city division superintendent, said the soft opening will be highlighted by the simultaneous lighting of trees around the Plaza Heneral colorful Christmas lights.

He said they assigned each tree to different elementary schools to decorate and enliven through the light-a-tree competition.

The official said they set festival’s grand opening on Monday night, Dec. 11, and the formal closing ceremony on Dec. 23.

“We made some enhancements to make this year’s Paskuhan merrier, grander, colorful and historic,” Mosqueda said.

He said they have lined up nightly shows at the oval plaza featuring performances from teachers and students of various private and public schools in the city as well as invited entertainers.

As in the previous years, he said a carnival, food strip and bazaar will be opened at the main festival venue to complement with the main activities.

Mosqueda sad another highlight is the annual fireworks display and competition that attracted huge crowds these past years.

“There will grand fireworks displays during the opening night, in the middle and the closing ceremony,” he said.

As part of the festivity, city officials and employees will also launch gift-giving activities and other related programs.

Meantime, the city police said it has laid out stringent security measures to ensure a “secure, smooth and orderly” festivity.

Supt. Lauro Espida, spokesperson of the city police office, said all their units will be on full deployment during the two-week festival.

He said they have tapped local civilian volunteers and barangay peacekeeping teams to help secure the activities and the festival venues.

The Police Regional Office-12 has initially committed some 185 police personnel to augment the security deployment for the festival, he said.

Espida said the Army-led Joint Task Force GenSan has assigned personnel to help secure the entry and exit points of the oval plaza.

He added that they will implement anew the ban on the bringing of backpacks as well as deadly weapons within the oval plaza.