The Sinulog -Santo Niño Festival is distinguished as the largest in the Philippines, with annual attendance ranging from 1 million to 1.5 million people. Aside from the religious aspect of the event, Sinulog is also known for its street parties, which typically take place the night before and the night of the major festival. The festival is recognized as the “Grandest Festival in the Philippines.”
‘Sinulog’ is derived from the Cebuano adverb sulog, which loosely translates as “like water current movement,” which describes the forward-backward dance moves. This dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, performed with the accompaniment of drums. This dance is divided into three categories: Sinulog-based, free interpretation, and street dancing. Candle merchants at the Basilica continue to execute the traditional rendition of the dance when lighting a candle for a customer, which is frequently accompanied by Cebuano melodies.
To give you a little background on Sinulog’s history, it was March 16, 1521, when Ferdinand Magellan landed and set a cross on the coasts of Cebu, claiming the region for Spain. He brought the portrait of the Child Jesus to Rajah Humabon. Hara Humamay, also called Amihan, was eventually called Queen Juana after Juana, the mother of Charles I of Spain, along with the island’s rulers and over 800 people who were converted to Christianity.
Sinulog dances often depict the arrival of the Spaniards and the presentation of the Santo Niño to the Queen. In Sinulog dances, Queen Juana is seen carrying the Santo Niño and blessing her people, who were often afflicted with illnesses believed to be caused by bad spirits.
The Sinulog dance moves are thought to have originated with Rajah Humabon’s adviser, Baladhay, who became ill while Humabon was grieving. Humabon commanded his native tribe to transport Baladhay into a room where the Santo Niño was enthroned alongside the other pagan gods of the native Cebuanos. After a few days, Baladhay was heard shouting and discovered dancing with great awareness. Baladhay was questioned about why he was awake and shouting. Baladhay, pointing to the image of the Santo Niño, recounted that he found a young child on top of him, trying to rouse him up and tickling him with the midrib of the coconut. He was taken aback and yelled at the child to run away. The tiny child sprang up and began making fun of Baladhay. Baladhay, in turn, danced with the tiny child, explaining that he was imitating the river’s movements. Santo Niño adherents continue to use the two-step forward, one-step backward routine, believing it was Baladhay’s choice to dance.
Up to this day, patrons and even foreign tourists are still drawn to Cebu’s lively Sinulog Festival, which is celebrated every third week of Sunday in January. Just like last year, on January 21, 2024, the grand parade was celebrated at South Road Properties (instead of the Cebu City Sports Center, which was used to be the usual venue for the festival) by over 3 million devotees.
This is why the Sinulog Festival still remains on its throne as the Philippines grandest festival. Capstone Intel found out that the observance of the Sinulog Festival garnered a whopping 523,066.7 engagement score for its 6,241 total post count, which yielded over 1,788,515 total reaction count. When broken down, there are 48.3 percent of ‘likes’ with 864,601 reactions, followed by 45.2 percent of ‘love’ with 808,041 reactions, 2.8 percent of ‘haha’ with 49,911 reactions, 1.8 percent of ‘wow’ with 26,643 reactions, and 0.4 percent of ‘angry’ with 6,704 reactions.
Capstone-Intel also revealed that aside from our country, which has reached an overall total of 3,474,785 Filipino online users, it has also reached foreign audiences in several countries, which include the United States with 252,156 online users, France with a total of 155,647, Sri Lanka with 143,700, India with 47,617, Ireland with 11,800, the United Arab Emirates with 5,130, Russia with 4,704, China with 2,500, and lastly, Australia with 2,343 online users, which all prove that the Philippines’ culture is recognized and appreciated in different parts of the world.
