If you are a traveler and adventurous at heart, big festivals are undoubtedly one of your bucket lists. Hep hep hep, count me in babe! 😀 And to that, this post is about my first Sinulog experience.

Sinulog Festival is an annual cultural and religious event held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, serving as the focal point of the Santo Niño celebration in the Philippines (wiki). The grand street parade is the highlight of Sinulog, and it was my first time witnessing it. Despite spending 6 days in Cebu, I didn’t visit or get closer to Sto. Niño. Nevertheless, I did have the opportunity to light a candle at Basilica del Santo Niño Church the day before returning to CDO.

How was my first Sinulog experience (‘prititit’)? 

The 9-hour-long street parade made my feet bone-tired, but I surely had a blast. I enjoyed the street parade; there were also famous celebrities who joined the caravan, a lot of beautiful costumes, and cute contingents.

When I saw the picture of my cousin who experienced Sinulog 2014, I felt so envious yet excited to try the face paint and color mess up on their faces and shirts. This year, I feel incomplete if I don’t try it.

You know what, so far, this Sinulog 2015 experience was the craziest and wildest festival I’ve been to. People were shouting, singing, and praising the music of Pit Senyor! Priiititit! Pit Senyor! They were putting face paint on people who passed by, showering water or beer… It was crazy! I had even more fun after the parade, actually. I wish I had experienced the ‘paintensity’ as well.

After that long day and long party night, with a big smile, we decided to go to the Sports Complex the next day to witness the performance of the top five winners in the three-category competition. Honestly, I had goosebumps when I watched their presentation. Each group was impressive; all winners deserved what they had been working for.

This experience will surely stay forever in my heart, and I hope for more experiences like this in the future. I am also looking forward to the MassKara Festival and hoping to have enough funds to experience it in October.

I already miss Cebu. During my six-day stay there, I had so much fun with friends. I also tried the ‘peymos,’ which is the famous food in UCMA village, and the yummy Korean cake called Moshi Manju.

And by the way, Kulas and I crossed paths (feeling close :P) and took the chance to take a selfie with him. He is still working on his Becoming Filipino project, a Canadian named Kyle who fell in love with Filipino culture.

I hope you enjoyed my first Sinulog experience and who knows, we might see each other in Sinulog 2016. 🙂