Lovapalooza

Lovapalooza is a traditional Filipino Valentine's Day celebration that first bid to claim the Guiness World Record for the Most Number of Simultaneously Kissing Couples for 10 seconds in 2004. Couples from all over the country with ages 18 and up are gathered together for the biggest and most romantic kissfest in the Philippines. The event is also a promotional venue for Unilever Philippines' new CloseUp Toothpaste products.

Getting the record

In 2004, the Philippines attempted to break the previous mass-kissing record of 4,445 couples in Chile. A total of 5,347 pairs crowded Baywalk, Roxas Boulevard in Manila on the eve of Valentine's Day. A year after the world record breaking event, the second Lovapalooza was held. The event encouraged wider participation of the four major cities including Manila, Angeles, Cebu, and Davao. However, it was also during this year when Hungary took the record of 5,875 couples kissing at the Elisabeth Bridge in Budapest on June 25, 2005.

The 11th of February 2006 marked another simultaneous kissfest, dubbed “Lovapalooza 3”. Aside from the traditional midnight kisses, the event was also highlighted with several performances of popular Philippine bands and celebrities, plus the 16 real couples who professed their love to their respective partners on national television. Parties held at Roxas Boulevard Baywalk in Manila, Bayanihan Park Mac Arthur Highway in Angeles, FGU Business Park Ayala in Cebu, and Matina Town Square in Davao was covered simultaneously by ABS-CBN. Unfortunately, the number of attendees still fell short of breaking the previous record of Hungary.

In 2007, the simultaneous 10-second kissing of 6,124 couples in the north open lot of SM Mall of Asia in Pasay reclaimed the Guiness Book of World Record title for the Philippines.

The 2008 kissfest, dubbed “Lovapalooza Frost Fest”, offered to give away diamond-studded Crystal Frost necklaces to 100 winning couples. Aside from this, the couples would be able to attend the exclusive CloseUP Lovapalooza Frost Fest party.

Controversy

As Filipinos become accustomed with this pre-valentine event, Auxillary Bishop of Manila Teodoro Bacani was unimpressed. He publicly denounced the notion of expressing love between couples through Lovapalooza. He insisted that Lovapalooza should not be encouraged because the couples' supposedly intimate show of affection has become trivialized for the mere reason of beating a world record and seeing themselves on television.[source]