Bayambang Town Transforms Public Plaza into a Mini-Ghibli Theme Park for Christmas 2023!

Bayambang Town Transforms Public Plaza into a Mini-Ghibli Theme Park for Christmas 2023!

 

Bayambang, Pangasinan's first couple once again surprises their town-mates with another attraction this Christmas season, a piece of Japan in Bayambang, by transforming the Municipal Public Plaza into a mini-Ghibli theme park as an unlikely Christmas village.

 

In lieu of the usual animated display by the Rosario family of COD Cubao fame, Mayor Niña Jose-Quiambao family's annual Christmas gift since 2016, night revelers from far and wide are in for a different experience of a lifetime as they immerse themselves in the magic and enchantment of Studio Ghibli's world, we could say Japan's answer to Disneyworld.

 

It is a fantasy world populated by characters from the most popular and critically acclaimed Japanese animé films written and directed mostly by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki.

 

Visitors are literally transported to an anime wonderland by acquainting themselves with the most memorable characters from "Spirited Away," "My Neighbor Totoro," "Ponyo," "Howl's Moving Castle," "Kiki's Delivery Service," "Princess Mononoke," "Secret World of Arrietty," and "The Cat Returns."

 

Those who are in the know especially would have a fun time milling around the Cat Bus from "Totoro," posing beside Calcifer the 'fire demon' from "Howl's," and the No-Face character or the old lady Yubaba from "Spirited Away," etc. (To the uninitiated: these are characters based on traditional Japanese folkloric nature spirits, collectively called kami.) 

 

Another little piece of Japan, the land of captivating contrasts, in Bayambang is the just concluded cosplay competition at the Balon Bayambang Events Center nearby. (Cosplay, from "costume player," is defined as "a performance art in which the participants dress in costumes and make-up, representing characters from anime, video games, television and film.") Contestants came from all over, even from as far away as Manila, just to join the fun of being someone else and acting in character if only for a few hours.

 

Locals are in for another surprise soon because in the works outside the Municipal Plaza is a taste of cutting-edge Japanese innovation and technology right on the facade of Royal Mall.