The Christmas lights of this 2022 in Medellín will be turned on on December 7, taking advantage of the Day of the Candles, the mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero, announced this Thursday. The local president reported that an agreement was reached with Disney to be able to use the theme of the movie Encanto.
But this will not be the only novelty. The lighting will also be installed in the traditional corridor of the Medellín River, where they have not been done since 2015 when the works of Parques del Río began. They will be from the Guayaquil bridge to the EPM Intelligent Building.
In this corridor, 13 barges inspired by this film will be installed, some of which will have holograms and these will be accompanied by palm trees. It is intended that there be 1,800 walkable meters of figures and lights to decorate the city’s lighting fixtures, which will have the name “Medellín loves Christmas.”
What theme will the Christmas lights have in Medellin?
The manager of EPM, Jorge Andrés Carrillo, said that in order to have this theme it was necessary to present several proposals to Disney for them to approve and give their endorsement, something that took several months.
However, he did not provide details on the cost of the rights for the use of the images of this animated feature film, winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Film, although it is estimated that these cost about one million dollars (about 4,600 million pesos ).
Mayor Quintero pointed out that the investment for these lights was increased with the argument of strengthening the city as a tourist reference in the year-end season.
How much was invested in Christmas lighting this year?
In addition, he reported that since 2015 the resources for lighting have been reduced. For this 2022, 5,600 million pesos more were allocated than in 2021 -when several sanitary restrictions derived from the coronavirus pandemic were still in force-, between the supplies used and the payment of rights to the North American company.
Last year 8,824 million pesos were allocated for contracts and the second 2,892 million for materials, while this year it is estimated that 12,169 million pesos will be spent on contracts and 5,195 million pesos for materials.
He added the president that despite the increase in lights and allocated resources, this will not be reflected in public services.
