THE MOST iconic edifices in the world float on clouds above the Christmas Village. Philip Loyola/CONTRIBUTOR
One will know the Christmas holidays have truly started when Bamboo Tonogbanua’s Christmas Village opens to bring cheer to the public.
The miniatures of the White House, Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building of the United States are among the latest additions to Bacolod’s famous Christmas village, which is now on its 19th-year run, that opened on Dec. 1.
Every Christmas, artist-designer Tonogbanua brings something new to his village that makes it entertaining even for those who have seen it many times before.
Aside from the three iconic edifices, Tonogbanua has this year put on clouds the Taj Mahal of India, the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe of France, the Sydney Opera House of Australia, and the London Bridge and Big Ben of London.
With the additions, the
10-foot-high Christmas Village, located inside a 6×8-meter room of Tonogbanua’s ancestral house at San Juan Street in Bacolod City, now has thousands of miniature objects on display.
Tonogbanua, who has a passion for collecting miniature objects, finds joy in using these to create numerous little communities representing different countries of the world in his village, as well as a fairyland section near snow-covered mountains.
Tonogbanua’s Christmas Village also features numerous miniature vintage cars, a 1950 New York diner section and bigger human figures going about their Christmas chores.
The skaters on skating rinks, Ferris wheels, parachute drops, saucer and tornado rides, and ski drops in constant motion keep him forever a child, Tonogbanua said.
The music from various sections of the village and thousands of blinking lights from hundreds of miniature Christmas trees keep the mood lively.
And amid all the festivities, Tonogbanua has placed five miniature nativity scenes in various parts of the village to mark the birth of Jesus and to remind visitors why the world celebrates Christmas.