A snap during the first Red Lantern Festival in Cebu City in 2023. | Courtesy of Cebu City PIO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — To celebrate the Year of the Dragon this year, the Cebu City government is also gearing up for the second Red Lantern Festival on Feb. 10, 2024.
Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera confirmed this with CDN Digital on Thursday, Feb. 8.
Pesquera, who chairs the City Council’s Commission on Tourism, said that the Red Lantern Festival would start at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
READ: What to know about Lunar New Year Celebrations in PH
Some of the activities that the public can anticipate are the performances of the Chinese mascots dancing to the dragon and lion dance, similar to last year’s event.
Dragon and lion dance
There will be a parade which will start at 3:30 p.m. from Freedom Park and will walk through till the Plaza Sugbo. The program proper will start at 5 p.m.
“Ang mga participants nato (Our participants) will be Chinese Volunteers Fire Brigade, and next will be different Chinese families, clans, and after that we will have a dragon and lion dance by the Cebu Eastern College,” Pesquera said.
Pesquera said that the difference of this year’s lantern festival would be the participants of the parade.
“Last year, ang ni-join ra sa parade is only the Chinese chamber, and also ang katong mga lion dancers nato. Karon, naa atoang mga Chinese families who will be joining the parade,” the councilor said.
(Last year, those, who joined the parade is only the Chinese chamber, and also our lion dancers. Now, we have our Chinese families, who will be joining the parade.)
READ: Cebu City to celebrate Chinese new year with a Red Lantern Festival at Plaza Sugbo
Free admission
The city government’s celebration of the Chinese New Year is significant to the local community because Pesquera said a number of people in Cebu City had their Chinese roots.
The festival is free admission and the commission will also be providing food stalls for the spectators.
“Naa sad tay mga (We also have) stalls that will be giving out free Chinese delicacies like tikoy and congee,” Pesquera said.
Moreover, the students can also visit the Chinese Museum for free, across the executive building of Cebu City Hall, from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. They just need to present their school IDs.
The city government held the first-ever Red Lantern Festival in the same venue.