Salut!!
Fiesta, is a Spanish word that means "party", "feast" or "festival". The Philippines is known for having a lot of festivals. One of which is the Sinulog Festival.
The Sinulog Festival is one of the grandest and most talked about festivals in the Philippines. This major festival is celebrated every year on the 3rd Sunday of January in Cebu City, Philippines to honor the Santo Niño, the child Jesus, who used to be the patron saint of the whole province of Cebu. In Catholic faith, Jesus is not a saint but a God. While dancing, people are shouting petitions and thanksgiving. They believe that it is necessary to shout so that they are assured that they will be heard by Santo Niño. The dance moves to the sound of the drums and this resembles the current Sinulog of what was then known as Cebu’s Pahina River. Thus, in Cebuano, they say it’s Sinulog. It is basically a dance ritual which links and remembers the Filipino’s recognition of Christianity.
The celebration traditionally lasts for nine days. On the 8th day, the Fluvial Procession, a water parade, held at dawn from the Mandaue City wharf to Cebu City wharf with the Santo Niño carried on a pump boat decorated with hundreds of flowers and candles. A re-enactment of the Christianizing of Cebu at the Basilica follows after the end of the procession. The 9th day ends with the Sinulog Grand Parade. A Pontifical Mass is held at the Basilica on the feast day by the Cardinal with the assistance of several bishops of Cebu.
Before, the father of Sinulog, David “Boy” Odialo, organized the first “Sinulog sa Sugbu” which is now Cebu’s biggest festival. He actually didn’t really expect that the festival would get as big as it is today and much bigger in the future.
When the Sinulog sa Cebu debuted in 1980, he first gathered elderly Sinulog dancers and drummers in Cebu City to learn from them. Odilao said he himself tried the basic Sinulog footwork of two steps forward and one step backward, to get a feel of the dance. The first festival on Jan. 20, 1980 used recycled costumes from an earlier festival. The festival was conceptualized as a youth program to promote the culture and religion of Cebu.
Today, the devotion of people to Santo Niño has grown and has really made an impact to the Philippine’s popularity. Every year, this festival is becoming more and more grand. More tourists and more visitors go to the Philippines to celebrate this magnificent event. Even journalists say that this festival keeps on moving forward and never will it move backwards.
The festival this year was opened last January 6 with the Sinulog 2011 Opening Salvo: Walk of Jesus and ended on January 21 with the “Hubo”--- a ritual wherein they undress the Santo Niño image in Basilica del Santo Niño.
I think a lot has changed with regards to its duration because like in the recent Sinulog Festival, they hosted more contests because more people participated. Every year, it is being advertised through oral advertising so more and more people would want to see this celebration. As time passes, the people who organized the festival learn from their experience and thus, leads to the improvement of the Sinulog Festival.
Compared to before, the Sinulog Festival today is more colorful, more interesting and even more sought after.
The Sinulog Festival continues to progress also because of tourists and bloggers. When looking for a place to visit, tourists usually check the internet for places to visit and this is where the bloggers come in.
According to the official website of the Sinulog Festival, the festival began as a revival of an old dance that brought government, business establishments, schools, pilgrims, artists and private individuals together like never before. The attempt to enhance cultural awareness gave the Cebuanos a shared passion, a collective identity. In the end the Sinulog did give Cebu a culure. And a name. Pit Senyor!
Reference: www.sinulog.ph
When the time comes, I would want to go to Cebu and celebrate the Sinulog Festival with all of them! I feel that it will be so much fun!
That's all for now!
Carl
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