P20 million earmarked for Cebu Festival of Festivals

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu Provincial Government is allocating around P20 million for the staging of the proposed Festival of Festivals in August 2026, a province-wide cultural showcase that Governor Pamela Baricuatro said would gather the best festival contingents across the province.

Baricuatro announced that the event is being eyed to be held at the Cebu City Sports Center and is intended to bring together winning festival contingents from local government units (LGUs) throughout the province.

She said the initiative aims to highlight Cebu's top-performing festivals while also helping determine the province's representative to the Sinulog Festival.

"It's really a good idea to putting them in one venue and letting them present once again and see to it nga best of the best pa g’yud sa atong festivals mao atong ipadala sa Sinulog," said Baricuatro.

However, she clarified that participation in the event will be voluntary and that the provincial government will not compel LGUs to join.

"Dili man mi mamugos. We just want to see kung kinsa ang mo-apil," she said.

Baricuatro said the provincial government has initially allocated slots for only 15 contingents, adding that the fate of the event will depend on the level of participation from the municipalities and cities.

"Fifteen ra man ka contingent ang atong gi-allocate. Let's see, if walay mo-attend then dili ta mopadayon," she added.

To encourage participation, the provincial government plans to provide subsidies to participating contingents.

Baricuatro said mainland contingents may receive P1 million each, while island municipalities may be granted P1.5 million.

Each participating LGU is expected to field between 60 and 100 performers, she said.

Despite the proposed funding, Baricuatro maintained that the planned event would require significantly less spending compared to previous province-wide festival gatherings.

"More or less P20 million. It's very minimal," she said.

The proposed Festival of Festivals comes nearly a year after Baricuatro signaled that her administration would no longer continue Pasigarbo sa Sugbo in its previous form, citing concerns over the substantial costs associated with staging a large-scale cultural spectacle.

Instead, she is pushing for a leaner cultural gathering that would showcase Cebu's established festivals, serve as a platform for selecting the province's Sinulog representative, and become what she described as the province's own festival celebration.

"Mao na ni atong festival sa probinsiya," she said. — /BRP (FREEMAN)