Sinulog - About My Culture [A Steemit Story Challenge]
The Sinulog happens every year, held every third Sunday of January in Cebu City. It is a festival for the celebration of Santo Niño(the holy child for Catholics). It is a massive party that starts as early as 7am until the night that all dancers finished their dance presentation. The main highlights of the festival is the Grand Parade that is witnessed by millions from all over the world. It gathers not only the locals and Filipinos but also foreigners that flocks all over the streets of Cebu. The celebration is like the colorful Carnival in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil of even the Mardi Gras!
It is a long procession that consists of various street dances, floats and giants who are all clad in colorful costumes and back dropped with amazingly decorated platforms. As they dance through the routes, they would perform their own versions of dance steps of "Sinulog Dance" - a distinct forward and backward movement which is in tune to a familiar drumbeat that identifies this festivity.
The street dancers interprets their moves of how the Holy Child helped their communities in the previous years. Also a way of an offering to give them blessings for the rest of the year. Usually, they sort of reenact how Queen Amihan, the wife of the former King of Cebu, received the image of Sto. Niño in the past. That event signifies how the festival commeemmorates the acceptance of the Filipino of the Christianity as their religion.
I usually get up early and roamed in the street of the street dancer's route to have a great view of the participants. I always do this where the crowd isn't blocking the way and the angle of a nice shot of the dancers.
Im with my friends to make it merrier. It's our way of starting the new year right, a massive party on the streets!
All photos are taken by Nikon D5200 with a 35mm prime lens. Post processed in Adobe Lightroom CC.
Check out this video to see how colorful, cheerful and crowded Sinulog is.