Over five million spectators and devotees flocked to Cebu this year for the Sinulog Grand Parade on January 18, turning the Visayan city into a day-long fiesta in honor of the Santo Niño.
The festival, which traces its origins back to 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan first presented a statue of the Child Jesus to Queen Juana, has long been one of Cebu’s most anticipated religious and cultural celebrations. This year, attendees woke before dawn to head to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu for the Mañanita Mass at 4:00 a.m., then made their way to the Cebu City Sports Center for the Grand Parade Kick Off.
The parade featured 37 contingents, each dressed in the traditional red and yellow colors of Sinulog, as well as intricately designed costumes sporting vibrant colors, feathers, and beadwork. The day ended with the Ritual Showdown, where contingents were awarded in categories such as Best in Street Dancing, Best in Costume, Best in Musicality, and more. The cities of Toledo and Tagbilaran took home the major awards, earning four and two honors, respectively.
The Cebu City Police Office reported no major incidents during this year’s festivities, save for a few minor cases of heat exhaustion or temporarily missing children. This year’s parade also concluded before 8:00 p.m., a decision made to manage public safety and crowd fatigue.
Photographer Bordz Patak gives us an intimate look at this year’s Sinulog through his shots of the day. Patak first followed the parade in 2024 as a street photographer. For this year, Patak wanted to capture not only the vibrancy of this year’s Grand Parade, but also the quieter, more honest moments of the people who make the celebration possible.
“I wanted to [see] the behind-the-scenes sa mga performers,” Patak told Rolling Stone Philippines in Bisaya, “[aron] makita ang ilang kapoy ug kuyapan, kay kadlawn pa sila naghuwat ug nangandam. Sila gyud ang foundation ng festival. Ang ilang blood, sweat, and tears… kana nga dili gyud makita.”
[“I wanted to see the behind-the-scenes of the performers to show their exhaustion and fatigue, because they’ve been waiting and preparing since before dawn. They are truly the foundation of the festival. Their blood, sweat, and tears… These are the things that you usually don’t see.”]
Patak also recalled that, while taking photos of the Grand Parade and its attendees around lunchtime, a group of people stopped him along the street to give him food. “Naay gyu’y sense of community,” said Patak. “Bisan pa’g dili mo kaila, makaila ra gihapon mo as brothers and sisters. Nag-istorya sad mi sa ilang chika, [ug] ang mga past experiences nila sa Sinulog.”
[“There’s really a sense of community. Even if you don’t know each other, you’ll still end up getting to know one another as brothers and sisters. We ended up talking about their stories and their past experiences in Sinulog.”]
