Christmas lights in Medellín facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids The Lighting of Medellín El Alumbrado Navideño de Medellín
Festival lights on the Medellín River in 2004.
Also called	EPM Lights (Alumbrados EPM)
Type	Christian, Cultural
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Frequency	Annual

Imagine a city lit up with millions of twinkling lights! That's what happens every year in Medellín, Colombia, during the Christmas season. This amazing event is called the "Lighting" (El Alumbrado) or the EPM Lights (Alumbrados EPM). It's a special time when the city puts up huge Christmas light displays, along with light shows and other fun cultural events.

Since the 1990s, the main places to see these lights have been along the Medellín River and on La Playa Avenue. But now, you can find these beautiful displays in over a hundred other spots all around the city! The event usually starts in early December and lasts until early January. The lights are designed and paid for by Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), which is the city's public services company.

More and more tourists visit Medellín just to see the lights each year. This has made the event grow bigger and better! It used to start on December 7th, which is the Day of the Little Candles and the unofficial start of Christmas in Colombia. However, recently, the lights have been turned on even earlier to welcome more visitors. During this time, all recreational parks and museums offer free entry for kids under 12. Also, the Museum of Antioquia is free for everyone!

In December 2012, the Lighting of Medellín was chosen by the National Geographic website as one of the top ten cities in the world to see holiday lights.

Where to See the Lights
A Look Back at the Lights
Gallery
See also

Where to See the Lights

Christmas lights on La Playa Avenue in 2011.

The Lighting usually begins on La Playa Avenue. Its most popular part is along the Medellín River. The main path for viewing the lights starts at the Pablo Tobon Uribe Theater. It goes down La Playa Avenue to Bolívar Park. Since 2013, a special projector at Bolívar Park shows videos on the front of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín.

From there, the route continues along Carabobo Street to San Juan Street. Then, it follows San Juan Street to the Medellín River. The lights run along the river, from the San Juan Bridge to the Guayaquil Bridge.

You can see the Lighting in over 100 parks, as well as on many other avenues and streets in Medellín. Other popular areas with lights include Botero Park, Nutibara Hill, 70th Street, 80th Street, 33rd Avenue, and Las Palmas Road.

A Look Back at the Lights

The very first time public Christmas lights were put up in Medellín was in 1851. This happened at Plaza Mayor, which is now a big convention center.

The tradition of Christmas lighting really started again in 1955. This was when Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) became a public services company. For the holiday season, parts of the city were decorated with special lights. EPM, the government, and the local newspapers all helped pay for them. People would go out at 6 p.m. to walk along La Playa Avenue and enjoy the lights.

By 1967, EPM took over the job of creating the city's lights each year. They decided on the design, how to put them up, and the costs. Over time, these light displays grew bigger and became one of Medellín's largest tourist attractions during the end-of-year holidays. EPM has put on its famous lights every year since then. The only time they stopped was in 1992, during the Colombian energy crisis.

The Mi Río Project

Pueblito Paisa Church on Nutibara Hill in 2006.

In the 1990s, the Medellín government started a plan to help the city grow in a way that protects the environment. This plan included a project called Mi Río (My River). Its goal was to clean up the Medellín River. As part of this plan, people living near the river were asked to help choose the themes for the Christmas lights. These lights would decorate the city and the river itself. Because of these plans, the avenues along the Medellín River became one of the main places to see the Lighting.

Recent Seasons (2006-2011)

The official saying for the lights in 2006 was "Colombia is light." EPM used 12.5 million lights that year!

In December 2008, EPM used 14.5 million colorful lights. They also used rope lights, light projectors, and screens for the holiday design. This was estimated to cost about 6,200 million pesos (around $2.6 million US dollars). That year, about 1,000 people worked on the lighting project. The season lasted from December 1st to January 15th.

For the 2009 season, the Christmas festival started on December 5th. That year, the EPM Intelligent Building showed off a new outdoor fountain. For Christmas, the fountain was decorated with cool multimedia effects. These included special colors, water movements, and sounds.

In 2011, the lights began on December 3rd. This was four days earlier than usual, to make it easier for tourists to visit.

The 2013 Season

For the 2013 Christmas season, the city planned to hang over 27 million lights! They also used 472 miles of rope lights in 90 different spots. The slogan for this year was "Our Christmas." Its theme was the history and traditions of the Antioquia region. The manager of EPM, Federico Restrepo, said the lights would "highlight Christmas customs and traditions" of the local areas. The lighting started on December 1st at 6 p.m. and ended on January 6th.

A 10-minute video was shown on the front of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín in Bolívar Park. The video played in five parts. It showed the history of the cathedral's building, how transportation in Medellín changed, and its art, culture, buildings, natural riches, and main Christmas attractions. Another show was presented on the west side of the EPM Intelligent Building. It was called "The Wonders of Colombia." This 12-minute show was told by three characters named Gotica, Copetón, and Linda Calle.

The Lighting along the river in 2010.

On the corner of Oriental Avenue and La Playa, a "House on the Corner" was built. It was made from a metal frame, mesh, paper, and LED rope lights. This building showed the typical style of old Antioquian houses. The eastern side of the Guayaquil Bridge had an interactive water screen. People could make drawings and figures on it using sprays, sponges, brushes, pencils, or their own hands with the water!

About 4 million people visited the Alumbrado that year. Around 60,000 visitors came every day.

The 2014 Season

This was the first year that EPM wanted to create a story, not just a theme, for the Lighting. They asked people to send in their ideas for the story's main idea. EPM received 1,555 ideas! Most of them were about fairy tales, magic worlds, and personal values that can create a fair and peaceful society. EPM chose "values" as the theme. The slogan for this year's Alumbrado was "Values illuminate Christmas." The story they created was about a girl named Paloma. She travels on a boat on the river of peace (the Medellín River). Along the way, she stops at different places to learn about human values.

The 2014 celebration started on November 29th at 7:00 p.m. at the fountain near EPM's Smart Building. Visitors could see the lights from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Juan Fernando Sierra was the design coordinator that year. The lighting used over 30 million LED lights, 800 kilometers of rope lights, 11 tons of metallic decorative paper, and 170 tons of ironwork, among other things. The total cost was about $9 million (21 billion pesos). The festival ran until January 12, 2015.

Again this year, a 10-minute video was shown on the front of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín in Bolívar Park. It played every hour from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. This year, the video featured Paloma and her journey on the river.

You could also see remote views of the river on tablets, computers, smartphones, and public kiosks. These kiosks were in malls like Oviedo, Puerta del Norte, Unicentro, Explora Park, Viva Laureles, Florida, and Premium Plaza. Also, for the first time this year, a section of lights in the Las Palmas area was powered by solar energy. This was done using 100 solar panels that were separate from the regular power grid.