CEBU’S SINULOG FESTIVAL is the grandest, most colorful and believed to be the mother of Philippine festivals in honor to the Santo Niño, the holy child Jesus.
This cultural event showcases the best of both worlds:
- Piety, pilgrimage and devotion of remembering the Filipinos’ pagan past and their acceptance to Christianity.
- The all-time, crowd-favorite Sinulog Grand Parade which is the main festival highlight of the weeklong religious/cultural event.
Like the prayer/ritual dance steps, to witness this fast-paced event, there are very important reminders to get most out of the revelry:
- Book your tickets early (for flights and passenger ferries). For those who missed Sinulog this year, reserve your hotel accommodations / travel tickets as early as November 2008 for Sinulog 2009. Even in October last year, some hotels have been booked for this biggest event. If you arrived here days prior to Sinulog Grand Parade or on that day, the best way is to scout around for a first-come-first-served basis stay at reasonable priced pension houses. There are transient lodging houses around town also to fit your budget needs.
- Pilgrims who do not have budget to billet in a hotel or lodging house, there’s the Devotee City at the Plaza Independencia that provides free shelter starting on a Friday, that is two days before the Sinulog Day.
- For tourists and local residents alike, never forget to scan through the pages of local community newspapers for the schedule of activities for the entire week. The week-long festivity features both religious and cultural events including nightly presentations and street parties at Fuente Osmeña, the Ms. Cebu beauty pageant at Waterfront Hotel, the Cebu Popular Music Festival, the fluvial and on-foot processions, and the search for the Festival Queen. (See the complete Sinulog Schedule of Activities).
- If you don’t want to be squeezed in between tons of people watching the Sinulog grand parade in the streets (and we would really advice this strongly), you can avail of the seats at the grandstand in the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) where you get to see the performance of both the local and out of town contingents competing either for Sinulog Based or Free Interpretation categories comfortably. Buy your denominations of P550, P450, and P350 (inclusive of welcome bags). Sinulog executive director, Ricky Ballesteros, advises the buying public against scrupulous individuals selling it at higher prices or worse, disposing bogus tickets. However, do not fret or you could no longer get any of the 12,000 seats at the grandstand in the sports center because bleachers will be built at some points along the 4.3-kilometer stretch of the carousel parade route. What’s more, spectators at the sports center no longer have the monopoly of the ritual dance presentations of the competing contingents on the culminating day of the weeklong celebration, which falls every 20th of January.
Dolly Suzara, the Sinulog project director says that unlike the years past, the contingents are now required to perform their routines at the grand parade twice, once in the morning and another in the early afternoon, and to carry all their props. No props should be left at the CCSC stage.
Yes folks, the competing groups are obliged to bring along all their fantastic props, even gigantic ones as long as they can carry them, and use these in their street dances so you get to witness the same wonderful performances warming up the revelers at the sports center. Expect it to be a parade of vivid colors, contingents clad on their dazzling costumes performing the prayer-dance synchronize to the beat of the drums, trumpets and shout of “Pit Señor! Viva Santo Niño!” while holding aloft the religious icons as they simulate the natural rhythm of sea waves (Sinulog comes from the vernacular root word, sulog, which means, “the rhythm/movement of the waters”) that brought the Holy Child to the palm-fringed shores of Cebu, Philippines.
- Regardless of your location during the grand parade day, do apply or bring sun block lotion, wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses to protect you from harmful UV rays, a handy fan, a face towel or two, lots of bottled water to replace the fluids that you sweat out, and protective clothing. Even something as T-shirt, preferably light-colored clothing can offer you relief from the sun’s harmful rays. Cebuanos (Sugbuanon) usually come on their holiday get-ups, which are black T-shirts and wide-brimmed straw hats. But you can choose to don on your trendy outfits and/or be a minimalist, but be sure to bring along a scarf and other apparel to cover your flesh, especially the shoulder and arms, to keep the sun off, lest you get painful sunburns.
- Wear very good comfortable, walking shoes or sandals because that is basically a car-less day in the city. Specifically, public utility vehicles and private cars are not allowed to traverse on streets along the carousel parade route.
- To finally set the festive mood, you can dote on fashion accessories, but not the real stuff of course, to ensure personal safety and security. Here in the city, you can visit the stalls or booths located outside the Basilica del Sto. Niño, at the street fair along Osmeña Boulevard installed as early as December, and at the Plaza Independencia, which are all put up for the duration of the Sinulog weeklong celebration.
- Comestibles will come in handy because booths and stalls selling inexpensive gastronomy of cuisine on different varieties will sprout all over the place. Just be a little circumspect with what you pick and from where you buy it. You don’t want to spoil the celebration with an upset stomach, right?
- Depending on the number of contingents, the Sinulog grand parade usually kicks off around 9 a.m. It is best to hit the streets very early so you will encounter less discomfort finding your way through the maddening throng of crowd.
- Bring along first-aid medical kit as well as any personal medical requirements, just in case you or someone needs it.
- Never forget to bring some identification cards, in case of emergencies.
- Take photos and capture the festivities with your digital cameras for your wonderful keepsakes.
Photography courtesy of Marvin Llanos Maning
Resource tips: Sinulog Foundation Inc.
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