A fireworks display yesterday capped the ceremonial light-up of the giant Christmas tree at the Fuente Osmeña and marked the opening of the Pasko sa Sugbo, a nightly cultural show inside the rotunda.
It has become a tradition of the M. Lhullier Group of Companies to put up a giant Christmas tree inside the rotunda for nine years now.
The tree will stay in the Fuente Osmeña circle until the Sinulog celebration in January.
This year’s 120-foot Christmas tree showcased traditional fans with green, red and white banderitas and the image of Sto. Niño on the top.
Michel Lhuiller said the tree costs more than P1.5 million, including the lights installed on it.
“We made it a point that we only use local materials to promote our own products. We’ve done this many years before and we intend to do this in the next years,” Lhullier said.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama in his message said the lights of the tree symbolize the illumination of the Cebuanos in times of trials and triumphs. The Pasko sa Sugbo, Rama’s brainchild, is now on its 16th year. In the first five years, its nightly shows were done at Parian in downtown Cebu City.
This was later on transferred to Fuente Osmeña and has since then become a major attraction to both foreign and local tourists and even to Cebuanos.
There will be nightly cultural shows until Dec. 30 featuring local talents mostly from the city’s colleges and universities. There is also a night for senior citizens.
Cebu City Youth Development Commission head lawyer Sisinio Andales said the city government allotted around P900,000 to fund the month-long event.
He added this helped boost the city’s economy as people are attracted to dine in restaurants in the Fuente Osmeña area and enjoy the nightly shows afterwards.
“Actually, Pasko sa Sugbo is a prelude to the Sinulog Mardi Gras, which will happen on January next year,” Andales said.
Aside from showcasing various performances, there will also be a Christmas parol contest. Judging will be on Dec. 15.
Cebu City Police Office Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe said they deployed several policemen and force multipliers to secure the event and it went on without any untoward incident. With correspondent Edison delos Angeles