Festival de Navidad

Festival de Navidad is the annual Christmas festival in the city of Zamboanga, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines the entire month of December.

The city of Zamboanga has a yearly Christmas tradition. Tourism Promotions Board dubbed this yuletide season event in Zamboanga City as Hanging of the Green, and for years it’s been called Pascua na Zamboanga (Christmas in Zamboanga).

In 2022, the event was referred to as Festival de Navidad (Christmas Festival) within the term of Mayor John Dalipe. Its calendar started in the first of December. A few streets were announced to be closed to traffic until the first week of January.

Opening activities in 2022 occurred in the first of December, and in some years it took place in the last few days of November to coincide with the anniversary of the completion of the historic city hall. The city hall was constructed between 1905 and 1907 during the American occupation.

A countdown is initiated until the first day of the festival. The mayor leads the grand switching on of the Christmas lights, which is called Grand Lighting Ceremony.

Each year, the fest has a specific theme that would be reflected in the decorations and lights of the city hall. These decorations are done by the city’s General Services Office. Other places in the city with Christmas decorations are the major streets, Paseo del Mar, Plaza Pershing, and Plaza Rizal.

Its schedule also includes Christmas-related events such as parade, chorale competition, Christmas village, sports, food festivals, cultural shows, exhibits, etc.

How to reach Zamboanga City? Flights are open to Zamboanga International Airport in the village of Canelar. It is about 3 kilometers away from the city proper.

References

• Teofilo Garcia Jr. Zambo folk witness switch-on of Christmas lights, decors. Philippine News Agency. November 28, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2022
• Liza Abubakar-Jocson. Zamboanga City ushers in Christmas with holiday festival. Manila Bulletin. December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022
• Pascua na Zamboanga. City Government of Zamboanga. Retrieved December 22, 2022
• Asia’s Latin City opens “Pascua na Zamboanga 2007”. Philipine Information Agency. December 5, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2022
• Hanging of the Green. Tourism Promotions Board Philippines. Retrieved December 26, 2022
• Bahay-Pamahalaan ng Lungsod ng Zamboanga. National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Retrieved December 26, 2022

Festival de Navidad Summary

Name	Festival de Navidad
Celebration	Christmas
Country	Philippines
Date	December 1
Duration	1 month
Email	pio.zamboangacity@gmail.com
Facebook	facebook.com
Founder	John Dalipe
Instagram	www.instagram.com
Location	Zamboanga City
Organizer	City Government of Zamboanga
Twitter	mobile.twitter.com
Website	zamboangacity.gov.ph