Sinulog
   
Sinulog, Cebu’s biggest and most popular festival, is celebrated every third Sunday of January. It is to honor the Catholic Church’s Santo Niño de Cebu. This festival is characterized by a very long parade with many groups of persons dressed in colorful costumes while dancing Sinulog through the streets.

 Sinulog-Santo Niño Festival is an annual cultural and religious festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, and is the center of the Santo Niño Catholic celebrations in the Philippines. Other places like Kabankalan City, Maasin City, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro City, and Southern Leyte also have their own version of the festival in honor of the Santo Niño.

 Sinulog comes from the Cebuano word “sulog,” a term which describes the back-and-forth movement of water currents.
The Sinulog expression “Viva Pit Senyor” means “Long live, call on to the Lord.” The Cebuano greeting“Pit Senyor!” is short for “Panangpit sa Senyor!” which means a plea to the Lord, the Señor Santo Niño (Holy Child), whose feast is observed during Sinulog.  




 

 Sinulog is one of the biggest festivals in the Philippines. Devotees come to celebrate the festival. Full of ritual, it typifies the Catholic faith in the Philippines. Sinulog is thus very Catholic.On the Sinulog feast day, a Pontifical Mass is celebrated at the Basilica by the Cardinal assisted by several Cebu bishops. Many Cebuanos would flock to the Basilica to attend the mass before heading out to the streets to watch the Parade.

  Sinulog dance steps originated from the story in which Rajah Humabon’s adviser, Baladhay became ill and was thus brought to a chapel where the Sto. Niño was enthroned. Baladhay was heard shouting shortly after. When asked to explain, he said that he was awaken for the image of the Sto. Niño was on top of him trying to wake him up. He, nonetheless, could not explain why he was dancing as if mimicking the movement of the river, which became the traditional steps for 
 the Sinulog festival.It is supposed that the Sinulog was danced by the natives every year since the arrival of Magellan in 1521. But the festival was held in honor of the Santo Niño, and no longer of wooden idols.


 

  The patron saint of Cebu City, the Sto. Niño, was a gift of Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan to Hara Amihan, wife of Rajah Humabon. Amihan took a new name Queen Juana upon her baptismal (April 7).

The Santo Niño de Cebú (Cebuano: Balaang Bata sa Sugbo, Filipino: Batang Banal ng Cebu, Spanish: Santo Niño de Cebú) is a Roman Catholic title of Jesus Christ associated with a religious vested statue of the infant Child Jesus venerated by many Filipino Catholics who believe it to be miraculous. It is the oldest religious Christian image in the Philippines, and was originally given in 1521 as a baptismal gift by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan via Antonio Pigafetta, who physically handed it to Lady Humamay, the chief consort of Rajah Humabon, along with a statue of the Virgin Mary and the bust of the Ecce Homo.