In the Philippines, celebrating the Christmas season includes staple traditions such as family reunions, Noche Buena, Simbang Gabi and Monito Monita. This year, however, has been different due to necessary health protocols.
In the community-friendly neighborhood of Lancaster New City in Cavite, festivities continue on a safer note. Compared to the previous year, Lancaster’s annual ChristmaSaya tradition was more poignant — the main objective was to empower every LNCitizen to rise above this year’s adversities and to welcome 2021 with hope.
Missed out on Lancaster’s annual Christmas celebration? Here’s a rundown of this year’s ChristmaSaya festivities filled with excitement.
GalingLNC Christmas Float Parade
At a time when families, especially children, need to stay at home, GalingLNC’s ChristmaSaya float parade brought the magic of Christmas closer to LNC residents’ hearts and homes.
The three-day float parade featuring a real-life Santa on a giant sleigh visited 25 villages inside Lancaster. Kids and kids at heart excitedly lined the streets in front of their front yards and balconies to witness the lights, lavish ornaments and Christmas music as the parade passed by.
Homeowners were tasked to participate in a township wide-Regaluhan where each family prepared a Christmasaya bag to share worth P350. The gifts were then collected by GalingLNC volunteers throughout the float parade and distributed to Gawad Kalinga Alapan, frontliners in Brgy. Navarro and Brgy. Alapan and the service personnel of the community.
Buyani Weekend Market
The hunt for the perfect Christmas gift was made more fun at the Lancaster Buyani Weekend Market.
Located at the Lancaster New City Activity Center, the weekend market featured various stalls selling food, fashion items, accessories, pet supplies, plants, stationery, toys and other gift items.
Shoppers were also treated to entertaining perya games such as ring toss and burst the balloon and a special online raffle.
To ensure safety, only LNCitizens aged 15 to 65 were allowed to enter. All were required to wear face masks and face shields, observe social distancing, and observe other health protocols.
Homeowners’ Night
The online celebration featured entertaining games, online raffles, performances by Bargo Brothers and Jash Dance, and a special throwback to Lancaster’s achievements, community events and recognition of its community for the year.
The GalingLNC Homeowners Night was broadcast via GalingLNC’s Facebook page.
The sense of family, especially during Christmas, has always been a priority at Lancaster New City. The hardships of 2020 paved the way for the community to boost its camaraderie in bringing the magic of the Yuletide season.
For more details on Lancaster’s township, you may visit www.lancasternewcity.com.ph or its official Facebook and YouTube pages.
