The Biggest Fiesta of the Philippines!

CEBU, Philippines — This is a country that has traditionally been famous for its fiestas. These merry celebrations are just part of the nation’s lifestyle. In a generally impoverished country, there seems to be a need for frequent merrymaking in order to divert the people’s attention from the hard life.

In some prehistoric societies, similar celebrations were held at the coming and passing of seasons. These were also an occasion for the elders to pass on folk knowledge and the meaning of tribal lore to younger generations. In a sense, people gathered together to make connections, both with the supernatural forces and with one another.

To this day, everywhere in the world celebrations are held for every conceivable occasion, for every conceivable reason. In the Philippines, fiestas are a religious observance, or at least religion is its original basis. These are celebrated mainly in honor of patron saints and usually fall on the saints’ birthdays or death anniversaries. Every town and barrio in the country celebrates its own fiesta, in addition to many other general observances set by the Church. Fiestas fill the local calendars all year round.

Almost all Philippine fiestas come with public entertainment, which have become main attractions in themselves. Today, fiestas have a strong cultural color. And there has since emerged similar celebrations organized for purposes other than religious, particularly to attract tourists.

In Cebu City, the fiesta of the Senor Santo Nino, formerly called simply as “Fiesta Senor,” is now more popularly known as Sinulog. The yearly event is touted to be “the biggest fiesta of the Philippines!” And very probably so – as the overflowing business revenues during the celebration would attest.

The number of visitors to Sinulog is growing every time. It has come to a point that all agencies of government, both local and national, need to be mobilized to ensure a peaceful and orderly celebration. Sinulog these days is a major security challenge indeed.

The exuberance of Sinulog attendees couldn’t be contained. The street dancing – a stylized version of the prayer dance performed by candle vendors at the Basilica del Santo Nino – seems to have overtaken the drawing power of the Fiesta Senor itself. Many people tend to mistake the Sinulog grand parade as a religious procession. 

The local religious community continually reminds everyone – the local residents and visitors alike – that the high spirits experienced during the street dancing is not necessarily religious fervor. Especially among the young, it is just revelry, for which the streets are the right place. Young people comprise the biggest bulk of the Sinulog crowd.

And yet there are the pious, whose numbers are significant too, that stick to the Fiesta Senor side of the celebration. They remain centered on the activities at the Basilica, including the religious procession. This group causes the area around Basilica and the route of the procession to overflow.

The combined numbers of the pious and the sheer revelers make the city burst at the seams at Sinulog time. Their common ground is that the whole event originally sprang from a yearning to comprehend man’s meaning in God’s universe. Although now, yes, it has also become his escape.

The Sinulog, like many festivals, is a way for people to come together and be dazed in their collective number – to numb their awareness of their innate individuality, to forget for a while that life is basically a solitary journey.