Families and friends can find a larger-than-life Mickey at Ayala Triangle Gardens as Ayala Land, Inc. teams up with The Walt Disney Company for its 10th Festival of Lights, which opened on Nov. 9, dubbed “Reimagine The Magic: A Festival of Lights.”
The now much-anticipated Christmas show reimagines well-loved Disney soundtracks, such as “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinnochio (1940), “Beauty and the Beast” (1991), and “Let It Go” from Frozen (2013) in orchestral rendition by seasoned composer and former musical director of Hong Kong Disneyland, Rony Fortich.
Fortich created three medleys: Disney Princesses, Frozen, and Mickey Classics, running for about six minutes each. Every Disney-themed medley is followed by a Filipino Christmas medley, featuring classic songs such as “Kumukutikutitap” and “Pasko Na Naman,” among others, which plays for about one minute and 30 seconds.
Complementing the medley is the spectacular lighting effects by Voltaire de Jesus, who has been arranging the lighting of the show since its launch in 2008.
During a press conference prior to the Festival of Lights launch, De Jesus shared, “Right before I arrange the lights for the festival, I usually go to Hong Kong Disneyland to get inspiration.”
ALI corporate marketing head Cathy Bengzon told Manila Standard that this year’s partnership between ALI and Disney has aligned with their plan to make the 10th lights and sound show special.
Photos by Lino Santos
“It’s the 10th year of the lights and sound show and the 30th anniversary of Ayala Land; to celebrate those two anniversaries, we wanted to do something special, to take it to a higher level. One thing to make it really special is to tie up with a global brand,” related Bengzon.
As if by pure serendipity, The Walt Disney, a global brand, approached ALI.
“Hong Kong Disneyland came to us and they said they wanted to explore possible partnerships. We said it was almost serendipity because we thought of them [while conceptualizing this year’s show],” shared Bengzon.
Last year, Bengzon said, about 1.2 million visitors trooped to Ayala Triangle Gardens to watch the show, while 2 million watched Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna’s version of the light and sound show.
“Overall, we got about 5 million [visitors] in all Ayala estates (Ayala Triangle, Nuvali, Centrio in Cagayan de Oro, Ayala Center Cebu, Bonifacio High Street, and Vertis North),” said the ALI official, adding they expect to get the same number of visitors this year.
Reimagine the Magic starts at Ayala Triangle Gardens and Centrio on Nov. 9; at Ayala Center Cebu on Nov. 10; at Bonifacio High Street on Nov. 15; at Nuvali on Nov. 24; and at Vertis North on Nov. 29.
