Colombia’s second largest city, Medellin, is expecting to have the biggest explosion of lights in the 50 years existence of the city’s extravagant Christmas tradition.
Susprising or not, Christmas has put Medellin on the map for many years for its enrapturing spectale of lights. Designated by National Gepographic as one of the 10 best places to see the holiday lights, Medellin is expecting this Christmas to illuminate the city more so than before.
The city’s mayor, Anibal Gaviria, said that it is possible that Medellin will have more lights than ever before this Christmas and that he is hoping to receive more than 4 million visitors, last year’s number, according to El Colombiano.
Medellin began illuminating the city 50 years ago and each year manages to illuminate the spirit of Christmas in locals and tourists.
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For the first time in its tradition, the city invited locals to contribute to this year’s magic. Over 1,500 proposals have been sent to local utilities company EPM of which the company elected a proposal focused on peace and reconciliation, a particularly current them because of ongoing peace talks with rebel group FARC.
The assembly of the Christmas lights started at the end of August and will cover 100 locations across the city and its surroundings.
The Medellin river will count on 1.1 miles of decorations between the bridge of Guayaquil and the bridge of San Juan and 2,650 hexagon blinkers.
The life and work of four important peace figures (Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa) will be exposed between the Pies Descalzos Park and the EPM building.
Apart from Medellin, 14 more municipalities from the Antioquia state will celebrate a particularly illuminated Christmas. These 14 municipalities are the winners of EPM’s contest “Let’s light up the happiness.”
The prize consists of lightning kits installed, maintained and transported at EPM’s cost.
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Photos
Christmas decoration planned for La Playa
The Medellin river
One of the decorations along the Medellin river
One of the decorations along the Medellin river
One of the decorations along the Medellin river
One of the decorations along the Medellin river
One of the decorations along the Medellin river
One of the decorations along the Medellin river
Sources
- El alumbrado de Medellín se encenderá el 29 de noviembre (El Colombiano)
- EPM (official page)
The post A preview of Medellin’s 2014 Christmas lights appeared first on Colombia News | Colombia Reports.
