With vibrant colors and cheerful yells, the Sinulog Festival 2017 attracted a significant crowd yesterday at Friendship Square.
The 17th edition of the festival – this year’s theme was “One Beat, One Dance, One Vision for Peace” – kicked off with a mass at St Lawrence Church.
Organized by the Santo Niño de Cebu in Macau Association, the annual religious procession passed by Sai Van Lake bearing the image of St. Niño to honor the infant Jesus, and featured dance performances at the Friendship Square.
According to organizing committee member Father Agustin Datu, the religious celebration was established in the region along with the growing presence and number of Filipino migrant workers.
“We decided to bring the celebration [to] Macau so Filipinos here can celebrate Santo Niño while they are here,” he told the Times.
“So the purpose is to bring together Filipinos working here; not just for celebration but to remind them of their duty to preach and proclaim the Good News.”
Violetta Duran, president of Santo Niño de Cebu in Macau Association, said the yearly festival has been attracting an increasing number of Filipinos.
While some regard it as the biggest Filipino event in Macau, Duran stressed that the celebration unites Filipino Catholics as they practice their culture in Macau.
“So many Filipinos watch this because it’s considered a big event for the Filipinos. We unite ourselves [in] this event [because] it’s a part of our religious practice,” she told the Times.
The organizing committee also commended the local government for its continuing support of the festival.
“This is already part of our religious practice and we’re proud that the government accepts and supports us,” Duran added.
The festival customarily takes place on the third Sunday in January, with over a hundred Filipinos joining the festival’s dance competition.
While dancing, participants shout petitions and thanksgivings to the Santo Niño such as “Viva Pit Señor! Señor Santo Niño!”
This year six adult and two children’s groups participated in the competition. Winners received up to MOP8,000 in cash.
One performer, “Bestie”, said this year’s festival performers devoted a significant amount of time to practicing and creating their costumes.
The revelers the Times spoke with affirmed that this year’s participants had offered up more creative costumes and performances.
The celebration, which originated in Cebu, begins nine days before the grand parade. The parade itself can last up to 12 hours, and involves a traditional Sinulog dance in which participants take two steps forward and one step back, swaying to the rhythm of the drums.
The yearly fiesta began after the image of the Santo Niño was brought to Cebu and the Catholic faith was established in the region.
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