Hey, Curious305: Who made the Santa’s Enchanted Forest jingle that’s stuck in my head?

Editor’s Note: This article was inspired by a question submitted from Miami Herald reader and former employee Noël Gonzalez through Curious305, our community-powered reporting series that solicits questions from readers about Miami-Dade, Broward, the Florida Keys and the rest of the Sunshine State. Submit your question here or scroll down to fill out our form.

Hey, Curious305: Who wrote the iconic Santa’s Enchanted Forest jingle?

How does South Florida get into the holiday spirit?

Well, it’s not with the radio playing “All I Want For Christmas is You” on replay (Sorry, Mariah). Nor is it when the temperatures get chilly enough for hot chocolate and churros.

Miami’s festivities start with a jingle: “Santa’s Enchanted Forest, come to see the lights at the wonderful ...”

The catchy tune has graced our airwaves since 2001. The family-owned holiday theme park, which moved this year to Hialeah, has been around since 1983. And Luis Alva gets emotional every time he hears someone talk about the song.

The 67-year-old Kendall man is behind the jingle. He is a “semi-retired” award-winning music composer, arranger and producer who has worked with some of Latin music’s most well-known artists including José Luis “El Puma” Rodríguez, Los Melódicos, and Los Fantasmas del Caribe.

“Music has been the grand passion of my life since I was a boy,” Alva told the Miami Herald in Spanish.

And his talent is like magic.

More than 400 songs recorded. Forty gold records, 28 platinum and 16 double platinum certifications. BMI’s 1994 Latin Songwriter of the Year in the USA. The creator of techno merengue.

Alva became known as “el Rey Midas” because everything he touched turned to gold, just like the king from Greek mythology, July Pinedo recalled in March while speaking with the successful composer on her radio show, “Señora cumbia Perú” on Peru’s Radio Nacional.

Alva was born in Chiclayo, Peru, and his musical journey began in high school. That’s where he learned to play several instruments, including his beloved saxophone.

He later moved to Lima, where he joined Los Astoria Twisters, one of the most important musical youth groups in the country at the time. He later became involved with several other renowned groups. In 1973, he became musical director for Sono Radio, Peru’s most important record label.

His career eventually took him to Venezuela, where he assumed the musical production of the famous orchestra band Los Melódicos, which had seen a decline in sales, and revived their fortunes by changing and modernizing their style of music.

He worked with many famous Venezuelan performers including Alfredo Sadel (known as “El Tenor de América”), Karolina con K, Miguel Moly, and Diveana. One of the groups he created, Los Fantasmas del Caribe (Ghosts of the Caribbean), became one of the most successful Latin groups in the ‘90s.

Los Fantasmas’ most popular songs, including their first hit “Muchacha Triste” (Sad Girl) in 1991, were composed and produced mostly by Alva. The pirate-dressed singers reached international stardom, selling millions of records and appearing on shows such as Sábado Gigante. (The group recently reunited for a reunion tour).

Alva’s career took him to Mexico and then to the United States, where he settled in South Florida with his family. In Miami, he created an all-girl, bilingual singer-dancer group called FRESH. The up-and-coming group had potential and even appeared on a Disney Channel program with Christina Aguilera, he said.

Then one day, opportunity came knocking for the group: Santa’s Enchanted Forest wanted a jingle. Alva was nervous. While he had created jingles before, this wasn’t his specialty.

He created the music first. Then, the lyrics.

FRESH sings the jingle and can be seen in the theme park’s original commercials, which can be found on YouTube. Gigi Diaz, one of the girls in the group, later became a journalist, radio show host, owner of a Hialeah dance academy, and is now a certified life coach.

The jingle is still being played today on radio and TV. And Alva says it fills him with joy to know the tune has become such a staple in South Florida that when it plays, people say it feels like Christmas.

“Ya sienta la Navidad,” he said.

This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 12:32 PM.