An Enchanted Curitiba Christmas
This year the HSBC Christmas will recover the childhood of adults, youth and children. A Christmas for Kids (Natal Feito Criança) sung by the Children’s Choir will be presented in eleven shows from the 27th of November to the 19th of December. The spectacle will brighten every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening at The Avenida Palace (Palacio Avenida).
The event is a postcard symbol of the city of Curitiba, and is expected to draw 200 thousand spectators every night. The first presentation will take place on the 27th of November at 8pm, the remaining ten beginning at 8:30pm. The theme A Christmas for Kids tells the story of an adult, played by Fulvio Stefanini, who must prove he can still sing, dream, and play as child.
As HSBC marketing director Marcelo Velloso says, “With such successful events in the past, we’ve got to surprise a public whose participation is growing more and more loyal each year.” Velloso also remarks that this year actor Fulvio Stefanini was chosen “for his carisma and empathy with children, youth, and adults, as well as four decades of work in the profession. That gives him a stage presence and affinity with the audience which is essential for a show that draws crowds of thousands.”
Some 400 people were involved in organizing the event, among them musicians, stagehands, producers, singers, electricians, firefighters, and volunteers. The set list will include classics like Silent Night, White Christmas, Calix Bento, and Boas Festas, as well as Brazilian songs like Aquarela de Toquinho, Bola de Meia de Milton Nascimento, Acalanto de Dorival Caymmi, A Banda de Chico Buarque, and O Que É de Gonzaguinha.
The choir is made up of 160 children from the eleven children’s shelters in Curitiba and other regions represented in the HSBC Education Program. The objective of the program is to reduce the children’s stay in these social institutions, and to enable their development through the support of technical team that provides counseling, education, and health services.
The HSBC Solidarity Institute has worked since 2006 in the social arena investing and providing resources in the area of education, environment, and income generation all over Brazil. The Institute supports 187 projects, which in 2008 alone has already benefited more than two thousand people. Institutions like Acridas, the Father’s House Association, The Feisty Kid’s Home, and others will participate in HSBC Christmas this year.
To remember one’s childhood is to be rejuvenated, and HSBC’s A Christmas for Kids is meant for all ages to bring out a simple smile in adults and children alike, and the memories that awaken our joy.
