Sinulog Schedule of Activities 2011

Cebu will be celebrating its most popular Annual Festival "Sinulog", scheduled on January 2 to 31, 2011. The Sinulog festival is one of the grandest and most colorful festivals in the Philippines with a very rich history. I know you cannot wait no longer to know the Schedule of Activities of the Sinulog Festival in Cebu, Philippines.

This is the Official Cebu Sinulog 2011 Schedule of Activities excerpt from Sinulog.ph

(Fuente Osmena, January 2-31, 2011)

What is Sinulog?

The Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, Philippines.

Why is Sinulog celebrated?

It is to honor the Santo Niño, or the child Jesus, who used to be the patron saint of the whole province of Cebu (since in the Catholic faith Jesus is not a saint, but God). It is essentially a dance ritual which remembers the Filipino people’s pagan past and their acceptance of Christianity.

The picture shows the Santo Niño during a Sinulog Parade.

The Sinulog celebration lasts for nine days, culminating on the final day with the Sinulog Grand Parade. The day before the parade, the Fluvial Procession is held at dawn with a statue of the Santo Niño carried on a pump boat from Mandaue City to Cebu City, decked with hundreds of flowers and candles. The procession ends at the Basilica where a re-enactment of the Christianizing (that is, the acceptance of Roman Catholicism) of Cebu is performed. In the afternoon, a more solemn procession takes place along the major streets of the city, which last for hours due to large crowd participating in the event. It is noted that excessive alcohol consumption is commonly observed at this event.

On the feast day at the Basilica del Santo Niño church, a Pontifical Mass is celebrated by the Cardinal with the assistance of several bishops of Cebu. Most devotees go to the Basilica to attend the mass before heading out to the streets to watch the parade.