Sinulog @ Cebu: Grand Parade

Santo Nino is widely celebrated in the Philippines. The Cebu Sinulog Grand Parade is the largest of its kind. For us it's also a top parade in several ways. For one thing, it must have the largest number of musical instruments, most of which are percussion, in a single parade. There were a total of 48 dancing "contingents". Each had to perform in the stadium in a stage competition "showdown" before they went on the street parade. Between that, the heat, and the large crowds, the parade was super slow for most of the day. It was rather challenging trying to catch some of the street dancing performances, making it our longest parade day.

It was a day full of colorful costumes, spirited dancing, and energetic sounds. Another thing that struck me was the large number of young men dancing. In fact, if one looked closely enough, quite a few young men were dancing in the girls section, as well as girls in the boys section.



JOHN SAYS: The Sinulog Grand Parade started at 8:00 am and finished with fireworks at 11:30 pm. Whew! Therefore, we took lots of photos and videos, and maybe I'm posting too many below; and some of the videos are almost 5 minutes long. However, it's a parade we'll never forget. I hope you'll find something in these images and videos that you'll never forget. Enjoy!

Here are a few percussion and drum photos and videos














And here are photos and videos of our fav "contingents".








































Other photos from the Grand Parade. We were told the "star" of the first photo below is a famous basketball player.