Monday, December 21, 2009
Mexico's World Record Christmas Tree and 'Bionacimiento'
By Allan Wall
The Mexican celebration of Christmas
(Navidad) is a joyous season, and an important part of the national identity. No matter what is going on in Mexico – and there are plenty of problems –
the season of Navidad never fails to provide joy and encouragement through family togetherness, the observance of traditions, and the festive nature of the season itself.
I recall, some years back,
when my wife and I visited Mexico City after Christmas and before Three Kings’ Day (January 6th), and we saw an enormous
artificial Christmas tree in the main Zocalo plaza (not to be confused, however, with the new Christmas tree I’m about
to describe).
Besides the usual sights
to see, visitors to Mexico City this Christmas season have the opportunity to see two great Christmas-related tourist attractions
– the world’s largest artificial Christmas tree and a "bionacimiento."
The Christmas tree was constructed
on Reforma Avenue, half a block from the U.S. Embassy. It has officially been
declared, by no less an authority than the Guinness Book of World Records, as the world’s biggest artificial Christmas
tree. (See photo).
Just how big is it? The tree has a height of 110.35 meters (that’s 362 feet for those of us who think in the American
system). It’s 35 meters (114 feet) wide.
Mexico City mayor Marcelo
Ebrard presided over the official lighting ceremony, which was held on the evening of December 5th. Christmas music was performed for the ceremony by the Shola Cantorum orchestra and the Mariachi Gama Mil.
The Mexico City tree beat out
the previous world’s largest Christmas tree, which was located in Aracaju, Brazil.
(Interesting how of late Latin America is dominating the large artificial Christmas tree competition.) The Mexican tree surpassed the Brazilian tree’s height by nine and a half inches.
The Mexico City tree is
composed of steel wires and has 1.2 million light bulbs with 80 kilometers of cable.
The tree is red, white
and blue. Why? Because it is sponsored
by the Pepsi company and those are the Pepsi colors. Pepsi is challenging Coca-Cola
for its massive market share. Coca-Cola currently has about 70% of the soft drink
market and Pepsi has only 16%, so the latter company has a long way to go. Coca-Cola
has about 50 of its own (smaller) trees in Mexico’s Chapultepec Park.
According to Alejandro Rojas,
Mexico City's Tourism Secretary, one of the goals of the tree is to get more tourists to visit the city, which is visited
by 11.5 to 12 million tourists annually.
Elsewhere in Mexico’s sprawling
capital this Christmas season, tourists and locals can also visit a “bionacimiento." What’s a bionacimiento?
To begin, a nacimiento is a traditional Mexican crèche
or Nativity scene, representing the birth of
Christ. The nacimientos in Mexico
are often quite elaborate and large.
The bionacimiento has life-size human figures, plants and live animals. What
kinds of live animals? Well, there are sheep (after all, there are shepherds
so it’s logical to have sheep) and goats, but also rabbits, canaries, parrots, fish, and an iguana.
The bionacimiento covers 150 square meters and cost MP$252,000 pesos [US$19,638.00] to construct. It has three parts: creation, a representation of paradise, and of the birth of Christ. (See photo)
This
elaborate setup is scheduled to be open until January 10th, which would leave it open until after Three Kings’ Day,
a big holiday in Mexico City.
According
to Mariano Rodriguez, leader of the private organization that constructed the bionacimiento,
“Being surrounded by nature is a unique and original way to represent the origin of our land and the birth of our Savior.”
On
that note, I wish all the readers of MexiData.info, wherever you may find yourselves, a hearty Merry Christmas, or as they say in Mexico – ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!
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Allan Wall, an educator, resided in Mexico for many years. His website is located at www.allanwall.net.
