DAVAO CITY — The Davao City government is now finalizing the activities for the coming Christmas celebration dubbed “Pasko Fiesta”, a yearly event to give Dabawenyos a joyful holiday even without using firecrackers.
Museo de Dabaw head Orly Escarilla, who is also the spokesperson of Pasko Fiesta sa Davao, bared that the executive committee has already identified 21 activities for the celebration during their first meeting last week.
“We are still finalizing the activities and hopefully, within a week or two, we can release the final list,” he said.
Escarilla said the city is also sprucing up the city streets soon, including the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, so that tourists and returning residents could feel the spirit of Christmas while in the city.
He said that the theme for the decorations in this year’s celebration is ‘Candy Land’.
“For the decorations, specifically here at the City Hall, the theme is Candy Land. There will be lollipops that are made of round fabricated steel and covered with light. The posts in the city hall will be also covered with decorations that will appear as candy,” he said.
Escarilla said the highlight of this year’s Pasko Fiesta sa Davao would be the opening program where Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio would light the Christmas Tree and other decorations.
“Our target date for the opening is December 1 and after which there will be succeeding activities until the end of December,” he said.
City Administrator Zuleika Lopez said the budget is being worked out because the theme design was just approved during the first meeting.
“We will still have to look on the budget proposal that will be submitted by the City Architect’s Office,” she said.
She said after the proposed design would be approved by the executive committee, the city would ask the business sector as well as the national government agencies to follow the same theme of the city’s decoration.
“We will encourage everybody to have the same thematic designs so that the city will look united,” she said.
Lopez said the activities for the barangays and for the Indigenous People in the city would remain in this year’s celebration. (Armando Fenequito Jr./PNA)