The Feast of Sinulog: Cebuano Heritage

Okay, now let’s see. The first time I saw the yearly celebration of Sinulog was on television and that was way back in the early 90’s. I was still a kid though and I didn’t know what it’s all about… but I did like the colors and choreographies.

Let’s take a little peak about the Sinulog festival’s history, briefly.

It began years ago back in April 7, 1521, to be precise, when a Portuguese explorer named Fernando de Magallanes landed in the beaches of the early Cebu. He was greeted by Rajah Humabon and in return, Magallanes presented an image of the child Jesus, a Santo Nino, to Humabon’s wife, Hara Humamay. Upon receiving the image, it was said that she danced with joy and, along with her, the townsmen followed. This was thought to be the first celebration of Sinulog.

Since then, the celebration has been forgotten until 1980 when the Cebuanos proclaimed the first actual celebration of Sinulog. From then on, year by year dancers from Cebu put on several costumes, masks, face paints and heavy presentation of dancing to honor the Santo Nino. Currently, this has paved way for several participants from several locations of the Philippines to take part of the festivity.

I have been able to take part with this celebration since we moved to Cebu in the early 90’s. The Sinulog parade begins in the early morning when the rerouting of jeepneys and several vehicle directions are posted on the newspapers as well as reports on local television. Me and my parents would normally embrace the long-distance walk from kilometers away to watch the live parade. Several places are jampacked; the malls, restaurants, hotels and others. The streets are flooded by people, captioned with the excitement and delight about the celebration. The fun starts whenever we arrive at the presentation spot where thousands of people flock together to watch several groups of dancers strut their stuff along with the Sinulog beat. This albeit the dreaded heat and the distance of what they are about to go.

At the end of the day, remnants of the celebration linger and it’s time for the people, who attended the celebration, to rest. But to all Cebuanos who have attended or watched the celebration, be it live or television, the excitement of the event is hinted anew and to expect the same celebration again the next year. Now, that’s something worth waiting for.