Yuletide by the river
While they still don’t have a Guinness Record to show for it, like the one they have for the world’s largest shoes, Marikina City would most likely be in contention if there ever was a category for the world’s longest Christmas celebration. There, Christmas doesn’t just begin as soon as the first house beats everyone else in putting up his Christmas lights or playing The Jackson 5’s Give Love on Christmas Day, the city officially ushers in the Yuletide season in mid-October, when preparations for the Marikina Christmas Festival kick off.
The focus of all festivities is, of course, the Marikina River — what the city considers its trophy for “environmental protection paired with viable economic activity.” A couple of weeks before Halloween, flea market stalls begin to sprout along the banks of the river, to be filled with goods sold at cheap prices well into the first week of the next year. Then the floating stages are constructed, where concerts will run through the course of the festival. Come December, that’s when the party really picks up. Every year, for the last six years, the city comes up with a theme and work doubly hard to put up a spectacle. One of the most memorable was last year’s Transformers theme, inspired by the robot movie. In place of the usual Santa Claus figures, they salvaged scrap metal from their engineering department and transformed them into recycled, industrial robot figures wearing Santa’s cap. They were paraded on streets, set up in conspicuous places around town, and made up to be picture-ready for people. It was an ingenious stunt that got the city a lot of attention.
This year, the city hopes not only to better the success of previous Christmas Festival but to instill some sense of environmental awareness. Marikina Councilor Santos, the committee chairman for this year’s Christmas festival and also the city council’s committee chairman on the environment, thought that the best way to highlight this concern was to make the Marikina River the inspiration for this year’s Christmas festival.
“The theme of this year’s festival is Water Fantasy. Because here in Marikina, we value our river very much. We want to highlight the importance of water in our lives,” says Santos. The major displays at the Marikina Riverpark will be of sea creatures, inspired by animation characters for the kids to appreciate. As in previous, there will be a competition among our barangays for the best display, the theme of which will be the water gardens of the world.”
Two decades ago the Marikina River was a dead river, nothing more than sewage canal for the homes and factories settled in its banks. It was black, water lilies choked its surface, garbage piled dangerously close. Now, the river is alive — still not in it original pristine state of four generations ago, but finally alive again. Its water can now harbor fishes and birds, a one-of-a-kind river park with jogging lanes and gazebos now gently follows the riverbank, and people are now starting to appreciate taking leisurely trips to the river, the same way Marikenos of old did.
The Water Fantasy Christmas Festival was formally opened on Nov. 15, headlined by the lighting of the festival displays, a concert by the river and, of course, the lively tiangge. Among the activities lined up through the season will be a seafood market by the river, community pageants and workshops, and grand parades. The display competition among barangays will be judged by professional landscape artists, so you can be sure all the displays will be meticulously done.
“In five years, Marikina is bent on cleaning up the Marikina River that people can swim in it,” says Santos.
Swim in it? When was the last time you did that in a river here in Manila?
