[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith the long Halloween Weekend just around the corner, the residents of General Santos and nearby communities must already be making plans with regard to their visit to the graves of their departed loved ones and friends.  In the Philippines, these annual events are looked forward with anticipation since they are not only to collectively reminisce on happy memories about their deceased, but also the time to renew familial ties and reunite with each other.  Suffice to say, through the years, these annual holiday visits to the cemeteries have transformed into momentous family gatherings and “picnics”.

forest lake san carlos memorial park

For the past few years, the Tuna Capital’s premier “eternal resting place”, Forest Lake San Carlos Memorial Park has been on the forefront of providing a suitable venue and genial atmosphere for their clients who are celebrating the feasts of All Saints Day and All Souls Day at their Apopong site.

This year 2016 is no exception.  Dubbed as Novemberfest @ the Park, the management of Forest Lke San Carlos again aims to draw families closer together with “prayers and fun activities”.

Check out these activities lined up at Forest Lake San Carlos from October 31, 2016 to November 2, 2016.

Forest Lake Halloween 2016

Starting on October 31st, Monday which has been declared an Official Non-Working Holiday by Malacañang, family members may opt to join the Park’s Halloween Games, the super exciting Pak Ganern Challenge, Zumba Marathon for the health-conscious, Face-Painting for the adventurous Trick or Treat for Kids, Hourly Raffles, Video showings, or take selfies and groufies in their Family Photo Booths, among other fun-filled activites.

However, being all about our departed loved ones, there will also be Prayer Offerings, Card and Flower Offerings and Blessing of their graves on November 1st.

For the Pak Ganern Challenge on October 31st at the Multi-Purpose Hall at Phase 3, here are the Mechanics for participating kids 6 years and older.

pak-ganern at Forest Lake San Carlos

As always, there will be numerous Food Booths at the Park.  So far, these are the names of The Park’s food and beverage locators:  Red Bucks, Helen Fruit Shake, Belgian Waffle, Papa Gino’s Pizza, Eggettes Pancakes, Chef Cake, Yummy with Mommy, Pizza Hut, Outdoor Burger, Dunkin’ Donuts, Greenwich SM, Hotdog on Stick, Takuyaki, Buko Not, Zeny’s Pasalubong, Vitamilk, Cobra Energy Drink, Rolee’s Bakeshop, Beestop, Zagu and Virginia Foods.  An Arpee’s Flower Shop booth will also be there.

Forest Lake San Carlos’s major partners for this 3-day November Fest @ The Park are:  Mindanao Bulletin, Nestle Ice Cream, Smart Communications, Beestop, Virginia Foods, Inc., Coca-Cola and Zagu.  Media Partner are Mindanao Bulletin and Gensan News Online Mag.

TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Forest Lake San Carlos would like to inform the public that traffic will be re-routed starting morning of Oct. 31 until 7pm of Nov. 2, 2016. Vehicle entrance to Forest Lake Park will be at phase 3, passing through Brgy. Baganggga. Traffic officers will be deployed throughout the area. Forest Lake will also provide Free ride inside the park to ferry park visitors. Exit is at gate 2, Apopong National Highway. Gate 1 will only be used for foot traffic, vehicles will not be allowed to enter gate 1, National Highway. This is to avoid bottleneck in the said area and ease the flow of traffic as we observe All Saints and All Souls Days 2016. We are also advising all park visitors to bring their extra rechargeable lamps.