Thank you to By and By for my Sinulog fit. I picked up this snapback and tank top at Manila Sound at Benny Boy Brewing this past summer. When I saw their Santo Nino merch I knew I had to bring it to the Philippines! I carried my little guy Santo Nino with me at Sinulog. I was so stoked to have him come along the journey with me.
There are crowds and then there are Sinulog crowds. Tito Alan knows his city and weaved us through the streets to get to the Cebu Sports Center where the Sinulog performances would take place. You can watch from the grand stands if you get a ticket or for free on the streets. Since this was my first time at Sinulog, we went with grand stand seats.
As we walked through the streets we could see different floats and performances. The energy of the city was infectious. People were happy. Folks were yelling “Pit Senyor!” to each other. It was a vibe.
We didn’t walk to the entrance of the Cebu Sports Center. Instead we walked to the performers entrance. Tito Alan knew the back way and we got to see various barangays, schools, groups who were waiting for their turn to perform.
Walking this way gave us a back stage glimpse of Sinulog. I’m so thankful that Tito Alan showed us this way. I know that it was definitely a unique experience. As unique as seeing various fast food companies have a presence at Sinulog. Jollibee, Ronald McDonald, and KFC all represented for Santo Nino.
The vibe is like Mardi Gras and Carnival. On face value Sinulog is the celebration of Santo Nino, a celebration of the Spanish bringing Christianity to the Philippines. But these celebrations are subversive because the songs and dances of the celebration are indigenous in nature. From what my armchair anthropology/sociology lens I can see that Filipinos kept their indigenous dances and practices by weaving them into celebrations for Santo Nino.
Sinulog, and other festivals like it, draw thousands of tourists to the Philippines. We heard a report that over 4 million tourists were expected to arrive in the country over festival season. We were definitely a part of that number since our trip involved Sinulog and Dinagyang.
This was the journey to get to the grand stands. Stay tuned for a video filled substack in the future!