MMFF PARADE OF STARS SET DECEMBER 16 IN CAMANAVA

THE 49th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) will hold its annual Parade of Stars on Dec. 16 at the Camanava area.

The parade will pass through four cities — a first in its history.

It will showcase decorative floats carrying stars representing the 10 movies in this year’s lineup: “A Family of 2 (A Mother and Son Story),” “(K)Ampon,” “Penduko,” “Rewind,” “Becky and Badette,” “Broken Heart’s Trip,” “Firefly,” “GomBurZa,” “Mallari,” and “When I Met You in Tokyo.”

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which organizes the much anticipated annual festival, advises motorists to avoid the parade route as thousands are expected to watch.

According to the MMDA, the parade will kick off at 2 p.m. from the Navotas Centennial Park and will travel through C4, Samson Road, and Mc Arthur Highway up to the Valenzuela People’s Park, where the main event will take place.

MMDA acting chair Don Artes said about 1,000 traffic personnel will be deployed along the parade route.

“With the expected influx of spectators and movie fans, we have prepared a traffic management plan to mitigate the effects on vehicular flow,” Artes said.

The MMDA will implement temporary lane closures and counterflow from noon to 8 p.m. along the following roads:· C-4 Road (from Navotas Centennial Park to A. Mabini St.)· Samson Road (from A. Mabini St. to Monumento Circle) and· MacArthur Highway (from Monumento Circle to C. Santos Street)

The MMDA official said motorists may take alternate routes to avoide inconvenience:· From Malabon to Navotas, take Gov. Pascual and M. H. Del Pilar Street.· Motorists heading to Monumento may take Gov. I Santiago Road, M. H. Del Pilar Street, and Samson Road.· Motorists may also take North Luzon Expressway northbound and southbound.

The 49th MMFF will run from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7 in theaters.