Rough Groove

Sinulog 06: Mardi Gras

Every third Sunday of January, the Sinulog, the Cebuano’s mardis gras is held in the streets. It was started in the early ’80s and 26 years later, it has sort of matured compared in the years before that it was so commercialized that floats, higantes and other participants were blatantly sporting commercial brands. Now, you can see different contingents competing from the Cebuano locals to other provincial entrants. Winners in other festivals around the country but usually in the Visayas and Mindanao like the Pintados of Leyte, those in Surigao and Camiguin to cite a few, are also invited to present or join in the competition.

It should also be noted that the legacy of the Sinulog Festival has been good copy elsewhere. Almost all festivals incorporate costumed streetdancing that because of the sheer number of towns and cities having these activities, its just become stale. Festival in Bacolod? Don some costumes of elaborate happy face masks and gyrate, dance on the street and you have the Masskara. Camiguin? The same streetdancing, different costume and add some real or faux lanzones fruits and you have the Lanzones Festival. The same with the Pintados, just make sure that the costume one is wearing reminds of tattoos as that’s what the festival is about. And so on and so forth.

Over the years, the parade route has been expanded. While the colorful costumes and unique dances are a beautiful site (even though they don’t have cultural or factual basis), I just don’t like that elementary school children are included. Just imagine, starting at aroun 0900H to late in the afternoon and they have to trudge down the hot cement road, suffer occasional showers, dance for the merrimakers. One cannot just make an excuse of saying that they’re doing it for the Sto. Nino. Crap! Its more on having a chance of the prize money!

On my part, I’m not really a Sinulog fanatic, except in the last two years wherein I go there to take photos. My earliest recollection of it was just watching the event as it unfolds on TV. Later in high school, I went with my classmates to watch. Other than that, it was already the last two years. But its really big business. Toursits from all over flock to this city, pilgrims from different lands and provinces come, Commercial big sponsors are scrambling and outbidding each other in having the exclusivity contract — never mind if that exclusivity is limited to its own market, artists and bands are fully booked and concerts spring from different locations in malls and parks, mallwide sales are happening, those selling sto. nino images, prayers, candles, food, and doing the costumes for the participants as well as to support all these ranging from caps, fans, t-shirts, bottled water, SMS promos are making a killing.

After the festivities and Cebu’s populace’s lives settle to normalcy.

Street dancers doing their stuff for the competition that brings not only big money prizes to the winner but also pride and prestige, a good way to get more or charge more the sponsors in the next event and up the choreographer’s fee.

Another group of dancers (left). Right, these gang is just roaming around the parade route and was effectively used by those handling crowd control to widen streets as people move back so that they won’t get tarnished with the oil and black paint.

A foreign tourist smilingly posing with a child dancer (left) while another’s makeup is being retouched during the break in the dancing.

A higante with a Sto. Nino at hand (left), while (right) co-members of the Smart Mountaineering Club pose when they went to Cebu for the Sinulog.