Sinulog Festival – The Grandest Festival in the Country

​Cebu is known for its world-class beaches, exquisite resorts and the Sinulog Festival. The Sinulog Festival is considered as the biggest and grandest fiesta in the Pearl of the Orient. It is held on the third Sunday of January. It is basically a dance ritual to honor of the image of Señor Santo Niño. The ritual dance moves to the beat of the drums and resembles the current or sulog of the former Pahina River of Cebu. 

Sinulog – image source: courtesy of Peter Parcon

History

The dance ritual actually has pagan origins and the natives danced the Sinulog to honor anitos and wooden idols even before the coming of the Spaniards. The image of Señor Santo Niño was originally the gift of Magellan to Rajah Humabon and Queen Juana after they were baptized together with their followers. Following the death of Magellan at the hands of Lapu-Lapu, the surviving members of the expedition were able to make it back to Spain. 

Sinulog – image source: courtesy of Peter Parcon

​When the Spaniards returned to Cebu under the command of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, they bombarded the village. The image of Señor Santo Niño was later discovered inside one of the burning huts stored inside a wooden box by Juan Camus. The natives continued to perform the dance ritual in front of wooden idols or the image of Señor Santo Niño. Before the Sinulog became the grand festival it is today, only candle vendors performed the Sinulog while making offerings. The fiesta was also low key at this time.

Sinulog – image source: courtesy of Peter Parcon

First Sinulog

By 1980, the first Sinulog parade was organized by then Regional Director of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development (MYSD), David S. Odilao Jr. A demonstration of the dance was performed by Nang Titang Diola of Mabolo. The first Sinulog Street Dance Parade was lead by physical education teachers from seven schools and universities. The City of Cebu later thought of using the parade into a festival to rival the festivals in other parts of the country.  

​The Sinulog organization was formed with the task of conceptualizing the festival and making it a major event.  It created the logo that did not include an image of Señor Santo Niño since it was considered sacrilegious.  Instead, the coat of arms of Señor Santo Niño was used for the logo.

Sinulog – image source: courtesy of Peter Parcon

​When Sinulog 1981 was organized, the history of Sinulog was depicted in the parade. Seven different periods in history were depicted in seven floats while dancers wore costumes associated with each period. As each year passed, the festival became bigger and better until it became the grandest festival in the Philippines.  Initially, the contingents came from Cebu, but after a while contingents from other cities and provinces started to participate in the Sinulog.

Visitors

An increase in the number of spectators of the Sinulog Grand Parade was noted with the creation of the Balik-Cebu program in 1986. The program also resulted to direct flights from Cebu to San Francisco. The festival now attracts millions of pilgrims along with thousands of balikbayans each year. With the increasing number of people watching the grand parade, crowd control has become a perennial issue. While different strategies were used in dealing with this issue, the solution remains elusive and the organizers are still working on solving this perennial problem each year.

Sinulog – image source: courtesy of Peter Parcon

Even with some issues organizers of the Sinulog Festival had to deal with, the festival continues to become bigger and grander each year. From a simple revival of an old ritual dance, the Sinulog is now one of the most awaited events in the country. Have you experienced the Sinulog already? Tell us about it on the comments section below.