Photo from Jornal Madeira.
This year’s Christmas lights display was held in a public ceremony with a timer. A child, selected from the public by the President of the Regional Government, was responsible for kicking off the event by pressing the button that started the countdown to turn on the lights. And so it happened at 6pm today, 1 December, as tradition dictates.
The Christmas lights once again add even more shine not only to the city but to the entire Funchal amphitheatre with the arrival of the ‘Festive month’.
At dusk on Sunday, December 1st, the tradition of switching on the ‘Festa’ lights was fulfilled, once again coloring the main avenues and arteries of downtown Funchal, illuminated decorations that extend throughout the outskirts of the city. Until January 8th, Funchal’s nights will be much brighter and a source of additional attraction not only for thousands of visitors, but also for many residents.
Proof of this is the large influx of locals and tourists who, at dusk on this bank holiday Sunday, filled the city with their eyes on the lights that make the city’s calling card even more attractive during this festive season.
This year, some of the decorations in the city centre are inspired by the Cleopatra-da-Madeira butterfly, a species endemic to the region.
The lighting, as has become customary, covers the main avenues and arteries of all ten parishes of Funchal, including public buildings, monuments, squares, plazas, churches, fortresses, palaces, riversides and gardens.
Because at this time of year the sun sets just after 6pm, this has once again become the official time for the lights to be switched on during this long festive season. From now on, the lights for the Festival will be switched on every day between 6pm and 1am, on most days, except on ‘Market Night’ on the 23rd, on ‘Christmas Eve’ night on the 24th, and on New Year’s Eve on the 31st of December, when the lights will be switched off on these three long nights at 6am, and on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, on the 25th and 30th of December respectively, at 4am.
The ‘Celestial Path of Storms’ was created on the Funchal Pier, an immersive and innovative installation using augmented reality technology. Technology and human interaction are also present in other arteries of the city, with motion sensors and the possibility of controlling the colors of local lighting.
In the commercial Rua Fernão de Ornelas and adjacent areas, as well as in the Municipal Garden, the lighting is inspired by the Cleopatra-da-Madeira butterfly, a species endemic to the island that has the unique characteristic of being luminous and fluorescent.
The largest Christmas tree was once again installed in Praça do Povo, measuring 30 metres high, with the particularity of being interactive with flying pieces simulating a huge musical score inside and with an augmented reality experience.
In Praça Colombo, the main attraction is a 3D installation, simulating a stylized Christmas ball and tree, which will serve as a ‘photopoint’, while Praça CR7 and Avenida Sá Carneiro are decorated with Christmas elements associated with the sea theme.
In ‘Sá Carneiro’, the installation of luminous jellyfish stands out, forming a ceiling along 180 meters, and in the former Praça do Mar CR7, two walls were also filled with jellyfish.