CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—All it took was 12,232 dancing LED lights and on-land and aerial fireworks in a 10-minute pyrotechnic music show to fill SM City Pampanga’s Amphitheatre and surrounding parking lots with a crowd of more than 30,000 people.

And at the center of it all was the 65 meter (213 feet) tall SM City Pampanga’s Ferris wheel, which was turned into the “Biggest Lantern of Hope” as it lit the night sky with dancing lights and fireworks.

Dubbed as the Pampanga Eye, the biggest Ferris wheel in the country was turned into a gigantic lantern to the delight of spectators from different parts of the province and the region.

The lighting was attended by Department of Tourism Regional Director Ronnie Tiotuico, Pampanga board members Fritzie David-Dizon and Rosve Henson, SM Mall executives and the candidates of this year’s Mutya Ning Kapampangan.

SM City Pampanga Public Relations Manager Rain Cervantes said that the occasion is part of the mall’s participation in the celebrations of the Aldo Ning Kapampangan, the province’s founding anniversary celebrations.

It is also a way of highlighting the Yuletide Season for mall goers and spectators. The event is now on its second year and was first turned into the giant lantern spectacle in 2015.

Cervantes said that the Pampanga Eye will continue to show its kaleidoscopic lights until Christmas. The Pampanga Eye is part of the Sky Ranch, the first amusement park in North Luzon.

Adding more significance to the event, SM Mall officials and government officials who were present also gave out gifts to beneficiaries.

Children, under the care of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the indigenous children from Pampanga’s Aeta communities were all given early Christmas gifts during the event.

The event drew in large crowds of young people as well as families from neighbouring towns and provinces.