Gladiators and Dragon at Sinulog 2010

The first time I attended Sinulog in honor of Sto. Niño de Cebu was in 2001. I was a college student then and had recently passed the Civil Service Commission’s Sub-Professional eligibility exam. It was also my first to visit Cebu City. That was also the time when the EDSA II erupted. The time when President Joseph Ejercito-Estrada stepped down from presidency and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Vice President then, was sworn in to office.

I was in Cebu during the Sinulog 2007 festivities but wasn’t able to watch the Mardi Gras then. But I was only in the middle of the procession, a day before the Sinulog street dancing. I had watched it on TV at my brother’s house in San Fernando, Cebu. I planned to celebrate it with my GF but her best friend came from Surigao. She went with her best friend.

This is the second time I attended the Sinulog Mardi Gras and my first with my fiancée, my then GF. I was able to attend one of the novena mass at Cebu Cathedral by her urging. Rain was pouring hard during the novena mass but people remained in the open ground of the Cathedral draped in rainwater and holding their umbrellas. Many people were coming amidst the downpour.

The afternoon procession, prior to the feast day of the Blessed Child, were attended by more than two million people. The procession started at 1:30PM and lasted to almost five hours. I even saw, along Jones Avenue, an old woman on her wheelchair who braved the sea of people.

The following day, a Mardi Gras was held and believed to have gathered more than eight million people. I and Iris waited for the street dancers and display of colorful floats along Mango Avenue before we joined the float contingent of my fiancée’s office. The streets were packed with people and children. Children who I believed would not even appreciate the colorful parade. How can a one or two year old child appreciate the activity, I silently asked? But the elderly will always quip that Sinulog Festival is also a celebration of the many little children. Sto. Niño, after all, is a child. Similar to a playful child who loves to bask under the rain.

A good sight in the festival are showbiz personalities from greater Manila. Since 2010 is an election year, candidates running for Senate and executive posts were also present.

Since My Sinulog 2010 attendance is so unforgettable. Not only of its religious reason but there was a rub of something personal in that day which I don’t want to belabor here. And every Sinulog experience is meant to be unforgettable. I always appreciate Cebuanos for their undying faith to God. I had observed that they are, the only group of people in the country perhaps, very religious.

The day celebration started with the Fluvial Parade, followed by the Pontifical Mass celebrated by Cardinal Vidal at Cebu Cathedral. The Mardi Gras followed after until evening which ended in a brilliant and colorful display of fireworks at the Abellana Complex and Ayala Business Center.

I was not able to watch the fireworks display. This is a good sign. I know that it was not my last Sinulog.