We hardly notice it, but Filipino's love for merrymaking, music, food and the good life makes us natural partyphiles. Unlike other nationalities that only party whenever they got the time to spend in clubs and bars, we have a regular schedule for shindigs. Not only that we do it regularly, we create variations, with costumes, locations, the party theme, and ironically, most of our parties are religiously inclined. Best of all, we take it to the streets, not only for a day or a night but for one whole week.
One of the biggest and most anticipated street parties that our country has, and Cebu's pride as well, is the Sinulog Festival. Held every third Sunday of January, the Sinulog Festival is a reverence dance for the image of the Sto. Niño which came to the Philippines through the expeditions of Ferdinand Magellan. This started the country's biggest religion today, the Christianity.
Unknown to many, Sinulog is actually a native dance for the idols even before the Spanish invasion. When Christianity took over the pagan beliefs of the people of Cebu, they instead danced in honour and worship of the image of the baby Jesus.
The yearly celebration of the Sinulog Festival is supported by strong financial backing from the local government of Cebu and the Department of Tourism. Thousands of tourists, both local and international, flock through the streets of Cebu for the nine-day celebration of the festival.
This year's theme for Sinulog is One Beat, One Dance, One Vision. The week-long celebration involves a Fluvial Parade which is a re-enactment of the coming of Ferdinand Magellan in Cebu on April 7, 1521, when he gave the image of the Sto. Niño to Hara Amihan, the wife of Cebu's ruler Raja Humabon. Hara Amihan was later named Queen Juana. Another highlight of the celebration is the election of the Festival Queen. Each year, the participating groups from different parts of Cebu choose the most beautiful women to carry the Sto. Niño. From these women, one will be chosen as the festival queen.
The nine-week celebration culminates with a big street party on the last day of the festival which is a Sunday. From the morning till the evening, grand floats which are usually sponsored by commercial corporations parade around the city, decorated with colorful accents that revolve around the Sto. Niño. There are even floats that look like a marine kingdom with the Sto. Niño held by a mermaid. And of course, the float of local actors and actresses is always anticipated in the festival, adding more shouts and cheers from the crowd in the side street. In all of these floats, the image of the Sto. Niño is always present.
Giant images or Higantes are also an integral part of the Sinulog Festival. These can be anything from images of people with mohawks and nose rings, to forest backgrounds for the street dancers. The costumes of the street dancers are very colorful, usually made from natural materials and with bizarre and grand head dresses. The gay community which is very much involved in choreographing the dance steps makes the celebration more colorful and lively with the gracefulness of their dances and their hip-throwing on the sound of the drums, which are literally made from water drums. Throughout the whole parade, the participants and the audience are chanting Pit Senor!
The pageantry of the Filipino religion is always reflected on our festivals, like the Sinulog. To the eyes of the world, it makes us not only a nation with a steadfast faith in our religion, but a country of color, happiness and not-the-usual, parties.
