Brighten up Bogota

City decks the halls, parks, streets and squares in anticipation of Old Saint Nick

Medellin may get all the credit when it comes to its alumbrados, but the capital is no slouch when it’s time to deck halls and calles with lights aplenty.

From November 28 and running well into the new year, Bogota will twinkle bright with some 12 million light bulbs, 10km of cable and 167,000 extension cords, El Tiempo reported last week.

Though the lights can be found throughout the city, this year Bogota officials are touting the ‘Christmas Route’ that people can stroll along to see all the pretty, twinkling multicolored Christmas lights and other holiday decorations.

The route begins at Parque Nacional on Carrera Septima with Avenida 39, and runs north along Septima and then Carrera 15, all the way to Virrey Park on Calle 87 – with Christmassy points of interest along the way.

The festivities include more than 200 performances and other spectacles, 36 of which are being organized by foreign performance troupes. Many will feature stilt-walkers, dancers, musicians, and acrobats.

In Parque Simon Bolivar, the Dutch company Close-Act have erected a large globe, under which street theatre performers will entertain crowds. In the same park, the French company called Plastic Moon Flying Fisherman will put on a show where “where giant puppets will fly over the audience,” the El Tiempo report said.

In Plaza Bolivar in the centre of the city, Christmas lights frame Lievano Palace, better known as the Mayor’s Office, and also the iconic cathedral. A 24-metre-high Christmas tree has been erected in the centre of the square which is topped with a 2-metre-high star at its tip.

The lights and festivities will run until January 18, 2015.

By Mark Kennedy