Christmas in the Marianas Festival resumes tomorrow

The CNMI’s Christmas in the Marianas Festival enters its second Saturday tomorrow, Dec. 12, with the successful opening night that went off without a hitch still fresh from everyone’s minds.

The public is again invited to be part of tomorrow’s festivities at the Paseo de Marianas in Garapan.

Last week, the energy level of the students and teachers shone as brightly as the nighttime stars. There was a flurry of singing and dancing that livened up the joyful spirit and camaraderie of all those who are present.

The participants that joined in the yuletide song and dance competitions made it clear that the students were there to celebrate breaking through the rough times after typhoons Soudelor and Champi.

Even a slight downpour could not dampen the spirits of the students and teachers as they celebrate the holiday season through caroling, dances, and the Christmas tree decorating contest.

This is a breakthrough year with new events added to the already fun-packed menu. The middle and high schools will be joining the Christmas tree decorating competition with $4,000 in cash up for grabs.

Unique to this year is the Teachers Karaoke contest where there is $1,000 first prize and sing-off every weekend towards the finals on Dec. 26.

New also to the Christmas program will be thousands of dollars in cash and prizes given away for (1) the Most-Spirited School presentation, (2) best dressed (uniformed) school (3), and crazy costume contest. A distinctive feature this year will be the perpetual trophies for elementary, middle and high schools in the float competition and Caroling competition. This will encourage more spirited competition in the ensuing years.

The Caroling Contest will have $6,800 in prize money, the float contest has $4,000, and the Christmas costume competition has $1,250 in prizes. The float competition will have more than $4,000 in prizes.

This year the general public has been invited to join the float parade, although not in competition, but will help to show the students the community support as we all recover from typhoons Soudelor and Champi.

The parade, as part of the float competition, is a great way to share the holiday spirit with tourists.

The lineup entertainment and competition for this Saturday will be: Hopwood Junior High Band as a warm up and in competition are Green Meadow School, William S. Reyes, Northern Marianas International School (elementary and middle), Kagman Elementary, Hopwood Jr. High, Chacha Middle School, and Kagman High School in competition in the choral singing and costume contests. The teachers will round of the fun with their Karaoke contest as they battle towards the finals.

A total of $31,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded on Dec. 26 to the winners of the competitions and the funds will go directly to the schools to fund their immediate needs.

This year will feature tents of community outreach groups that will utilize the event to bring much need awareness of their services, community assistance as well as conducting community surveys. There will be special tents put up for these agencies and the venue will also provide an outlet for arts and crafts and food offerings.

This year, KKMP radio and KKMP foundation has taken the lead for Christmas in the Marianas to raise funds and produce the event along with our partners Team PDI, PDM promoters (T-Galleria, Tan Holdings, Kinpachi & Furusato), Best Sunshine CSR team, and the Marianas Visitors Authority.

Due to budget cuts at MVA, the KKMP team had to call on their community entities, private and government, to join them to enact this event so that our children will have a Merry Christmas after surviving typhoons Soudelor and Champi

KKMP’s collaborators allocated financial, in-kind and tax credit support to move Christmas in the Marianas forward. Without the collaborators/sponsors the program would have been impossible to stage.

The platinum partners are Best Sunshine International, Mariana Resort and Spa, CHCC-DPH-Community Guidance Center and MVA. The gold sponsors include Honest Profit, DCCA-Division of Youth Services, DPS-DDDD-CIOT-Highway Safety Office, G4S security, DOC-Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco Control. The silver sponsors are BECQ-Coastal Resources Management division, IT&E, T-Galleria DFS, Commonwealth Ports Authority Bridge Capital, Fiesta resort and Spa, DOCOMO Pacific and DPS- Boating Safety. The bronze sponsors are Skywalker Communications Group, Kanoa Resort, CHCC-DPH- Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Bank of Saipan, DCCA-Arts Council, Joeten Enterprises and the Commonwealth Office of Transportation Authority. In-kind partners are MARPAC, DIAL Rent to Own, Pacifica Insurance.

KKMP expresses its sincere gratitude to our community for helping the kids and the schools recover from recent calamities.