AN INTERNATIONAL CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

THE THIRD annual Carols By Candlelight, Luces de Navidad, seasonal music festival, will take place at the Mirador del Pacifico (Cinta Costera) on Saturday December 7, the eve of Mothers’ Day.

The community oriented event, raising funds for Hogar Malambo and Hospital Santo Tomas, involves the participation of the audience, and has been expanded to include seven choirs a quartet and two soloists.

It will be preceded by a candlelight parade of 1,000 children, led by the Moises Castillo O Band, which has been chosen to participate along with bands from 88 countries in the world’s biggest New Year’s Day parade in London.

The concert is free and its presentation, funded by sponsors and the CanadaPLUS Club,

Funds for Malambo and Santo Tomas, are raised through the sale of led candles and some reserved seats.
After each on stage presentation, the audience, armed with LED candles, is invited to join in the singing of a carol. They will find the words in a specially produced song book, which is available free in outlets across Panama City and environs.
Some of the 25,000 copies of the book have been provided to schools and churches.
PREMIERE
The choirs include The Thames Community Choir from London Ontario, Canada, which will premiere a 

new carol “The Shepherds and the Mejoranero” written specially for the event by celebrated Canadian composer Beverly Lewis.

A further contribution from Canada will be a giant fir tree which will be shipped from Quebec, courtesy of the Canadian Embassy in Panama.
The decorated tree will stand alongside the stage and will be shipped the next day to stand at City Hall.
BACKGROUND
Carols by Candlelight originated in Melbourne Australia in 1937. A radio broadcaster, on his way home from the studio late at night on Christmas Eve, saw through a window, a woman sitting alone, listening to the radio and singing “Away in a Manger.” 
He wondered how many others in the city were also alone on this very special night in the Christian calendar and determined to do something about it. The next year he organized an event with one choir and a bomber band. Ten thousand candle carrying celebrants turned up. The next year there were 25,000 and the event moved to a football stadium.
It has never looked back, and has continued every year since, raising millions of dollars for charity, and is now a star studded event. It has been replicated across Australia and the world.
The British/Canadian originator of the Panama event, first witnessed Carols by Candlelight in Ndola, Central Africa, and brought the memory to Panama, where he founded the CanadaPLUS Club, and used that as a base to organize the first two events in Plaza de Francia in 2011 and 2012. Both years over 2,000 people participated.
The founding carol, Away in a Manger, is included each year.
THE PERFORMERS
In order of appearance: Knightsbridge Schools International, Kings College, Hogar Malambo, Coro Redencion, G Harmony (quartet) Coro Cantus de Victoria, Opera Panama, and The Thames Centre Community Choir. Soloists; Odette Versailles, DavidL. Artistic Director, Melanie Gilpin. 

The concert will end with the massed choirs and the audience singing Deck the Halls, followed by Feliz Navidad and fireworks.
CURTAIN RAISER
Two days before the main event there will be a reception for the Canadian choir at the Miramar Hotel as part of the CanadaPLUS Club annual “Welcome Back Snowbirds” celebration.

RESERVATIONS: The concert is free but there are a limited number of reserved seats available at $20 or $15, including an LED souvenir candle. They can be ordered at 6634-7351 or at carolspanama@gmail.com.

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SPONSORS: Sponsors of Carols by Candlelight 2013, include : Alcaldia de Panama, Bern Hotels and Resorts, Canadian Embassy. Copa Airlines, Corprensa, Ducruet Insurance, El Siglo, Felipe Motta, INAC, Kings College, Knightsbridge International Schools, La Estrella, Newsroom Panama, MoP, Panama Pacifico, US Embassy, The Visitor.