Sinulog Festival

The Sinulog Festival in Cebu is celebrated on the third Sunday of January. It is considered the grandest of all feast honoring the Santo Niño - the image of the Holy Child Jesus. This week-long Mardi Gras-style celebration is highlighted by sinulog dances, cultural shows, carnivals and a twilight procession.

Sinulog dance is based on the movement of the river current, hence the dancers move with wave-like movement. People converge along the route of a grand procession and partake in the gaiety amidst a Mardi Gras parade and immersed in wild colors and the constant beating of drums to the yells of "Pit Senor!" A dance prayer performed at the church before the Santo Nino, sinulog has an origin that can be traced to pagan practices long before Magellan came. The sinulog was a dance for harvest time, or a plea for held during times of need.