{"id":195210,"date":"2018-12-25T03:20:59","date_gmt":"2018-12-25T08:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=195210"},"modified":"2018-12-25T03:22:39","modified_gmt":"2018-12-25T08:22:39","slug":"disney-christmas-at-negoccs-festival-of-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/12\/25\/disney-christmas-at-negoccs-festival-of-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney Christmas at NegOcc\u2019s Festival of Lights"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_195211\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-195211\" style=\"width: 415px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/negoccla-castellana-lights.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-195211\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/negoccla-castellana-lights.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"415\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/negoccla-castellana-lights.jpeg 415w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/negoccla-castellana-lights-300x188.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 415px) 100vw, 415px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-195211\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">DISNEY WONDERLAND. Residents of La Castellana, Negros Occidental flock nightly to the town plaza which has been transformed into a wonderland of Disney characters fused with colorful lanterns to keep the Filipino Christmas tradition alive. (Photo by Erwin P. Nicavera via PNA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>LA CASTELLANA, Negros Occidental<\/strong>\u00a0&#8212; True to being the home to the famous \u201cBailes de Luces\u201d, or the Festival of\u00a0 Lights, this municipality in southern Negros is all lit up for the holidays.<\/p>\n<p>The annual festival runs from December 18 to January 5, coinciding with the Christmas and the New Year celebrations.<\/p>\n<p>This year, the town plaza, through the \u201cLight a Tree\u201d program, has been transformed into a wonderland of Disney characters fused with colorful \u201cparols\u201d (lanterns) to keep the Filipino Christmas tradition alive.<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Rhumyla Nicor-Manguilimutan has said that since the celebrations include the \u201cBailes de Luces\u201d Festival, the entire municipal hall grounds are being illuminated to spread the spirit of the event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLa Castellana sparks mainly because of our Bailes de Luces Festival. Through our sparkling plaza, we want to give fun and enjoyment to our people, as well as to the visitors,\u201d the mayor said on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Various Disney figures and characters are on display, giving everyone perfect spots for photographs. A group of students dressed like princesses and other favorite Disney characters brought joy through their dance performances.<\/p>\n<p>The story of the Nativity is showcased through a \u201cbelen\u201d in one of the gardens, while reindeers remind everyone of Santa Claus bringing joy to children waiting for gifts.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, this Christmas wonderland is not just for the guests\u2019 visual pleasure but is also vying for an award.<\/p>\n<p>For the second year, the Christmas installations are competing for the top prizes. Winners will be announced during the culmination of the \u201cBailes de Luces Festival\u201d on January 5.<\/p>\n<p>Schools that collaborated in coming up with their respective Disney-themed designs were clustered into six groups.<\/p>\n<p>The champion will receive PHP100,000 in cash prize while the first and second runners-up will get PHP75,000 and PHP50,000, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>The non-winning groups will be given a consolation prize of PHP20,000 each.<\/p>\n<p>The mayor said the activity is a product of the collaborative efforts and ideas of the local government, barangays and the Department of Education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are driven by the concept of \u2018Makilahok, Makiisa at Makialam\u2019. Thus, this is one way of letting our people from different sectors share their abilities, not only during Bailes de Luces, but in all other town activities,\u201d Nicor-Manguilimutan said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore than the colorful lights and stunning attractions, the true essence of Christmas is still about sharing and giving,\u201d the mayor added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LA CASTELLANA, Negros Occidental\u00a0&#8212; True to being the home to the famous \u201cBailes de Luces\u201d, or the Festival of\u00a0 Lights, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-travel","mauthors-erwin-nicavera","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}