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Sinulog Festival in Cebu
  The Sinulog Festival in Cebu is considered the grandest of all feasts honoring the Santo Nino - the image of the Holy Child Jesus. The week-long celebration is highlighted by sinulog dances, cultural shows, carnivals and a twilight procession. Sinulog dance is based on the movement of the river current, hence the dancers move with wave-like movement. People converge along the route of a grand procession and partake in the gaiety amidst a Mardi Gras parade and immersed in wild colors and the constant beating of drums to the yells of "Pit Senor!" A dance prayer performed at the church before the Santo Nino, sinulog has an origin that can be traced to pagan practices long before Magellan came. The sinulog, was a dance for harvest time, or a plea for help during times of need. In 1981, when the Sinulog Project was started by the Cebu City government, the sinulog dance became the pervading theme of teh cultural celebration and has remained so to this day. The preparations for the Sinulog have spawned other activities which in themselves have become yearly events. An example of this is the putting up of decors on the faacades of stores and buildings where the parade passes by and has become a symbol of the advent feast. |
