Holidays Made Brighter with Christmas At The Bay

Ayala Malls Manila Bay transforms its one-hectare garden into a curated holiday wonderland.

Words Randolf Maala-Resueño
Photos courtesy of Ayala Malls and Pulse Communications
December 13, 2025

Every December, Manila glows a little brighter. And this year, Ayala Malls Manila Bay turns luminosity into an art form. 

With Christmas at the Bay, the one-hectare garden transforms into a multisensory holiday installation, merging performance, design, and public art into a sprawling festive canvas.

The launch itself unfurled like a curated exhibition of light and sound. A towering 3D LED feature rose from the garden like a digital monolith, pulsing to the rhythm of the Garden Lights Show. The night crescendoed with fireworks that scattered color across the open sky.

Live music sets the emotional tone. Rising OPM voice Dionela offered a smooth, contemporary warmth, while Ely Buendia—ever the cultural icon—anchored the evening with classic tracks that felt as comforting as tradition itself. Together, they framed the night with nostalgia and newness, an apt metaphor for the season.

At the heart of Christmas at the Bay is Giftville, a curated holiday marketplace reimagined as an immersive art village. Its themed zones—The Taste Commons, The Gift Lab, The Archive, Merry Lane, The Yuletide Atelier, and Bloom Room—function like micro-galleries, each with its own design language, sensory palette, and narrative. 

Meanwhile, Garden Lights, Holiday Nights returns as a centerpiece performance, now upgraded with crisper synchronization and expanded lighting choreography. Running multiple nights a week, the six-minute show is a brief but beautiful reminder of how public spaces can become collective sanctuaries of wonder.

Families, too, become part of the tableau through Santa’s Nook, chorale performances, buskers, and interactive stations, a living collage of holiday rituals.

“Every detail is meant to inspire wonder, togetherness, and genuine holiday magic,” said Mae Dichupa, Ayala Malls’ Head of Marketing.

In a city that moves fast, Christmas at the Bay offers a bright pause where art, light, and community coalesce to shape new memories.

For full schedules and more details, visit ayalamalls.com.