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CEBU CITY, Philippines - With just three days before the start of the Sinulog festivities on January 9, organizers assured that everything – including the complex stage being built inside the Cebu City Sports Center – will be ready.
The organizers want to address the possibility that it might rain during the Grand Parade and cause the stage to be slippery.
Some contingents were forced to perform on the rubberized tracks of the sports center’s running area when it rained last year.
This year, the stage will be made of special floor material and specialized paint to minimize its slipperiness in case of rain, said Ricky Ballesteros, executive director of the Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI).
The organizers earlier planned to build a roof over the stage. But the idea was abandoned because it would block the view of the audience.
Ballesteros said organizers had to address the possibility of rain because regardless of the weather, the show had to go on.
“Sinulog is rain or shine, so we will still dance even if it will rain,” he said.
The stage would be built around a “Polynesian-inspired” concept that touches on nature. In earlier interviews, Ballesteros said the stage would feature a rock formation with flowing water and a body of water big enough for a canoe to travel about.
This year, SFI will also be stricter in its photo contest.
While alterations have always been prohibited in photo contest entries, this year, organizers will include among the photo contest judges technology experts in photography to spot alterations.
“We will have a pre-judging of all the photos. We will eliminate photos... that have been altered,” Ballesteros said.
He added that all contestants would be asked to submit a soft copy of their entries to authenticate their photos.
Ballesteros said that ever since ticket sales for the grand parade started on January 2, these have been going fast.
Because sales have been rapid, Ballesteros could not give an estimate as to how many still remain.
Tickets are sold at P350 for green and pink tickets, P450 for yellow tickets, and P550 for white tickets. The ticket color corresponds to a seat’s location in the grandstand at the sports complex.
Meanwhile, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said Monday she would join the Tostado Festival dancers – the contingent from the town of Santander, southernmost Cebu – in this year’s Sinulog Grand Parade on the 18th.
But because of her hectic schedule, Garcia said she only has a few days to prepare for her performance.
The governor said she chose to join the Tostado Festival dancers this year to give Santander’s festival a chance to shine through the Sinulog.
Last year, Garcia joined the Palawod Festival dancers of Bantayan town, northern Cebu, in their Sinulog performance. She also performed with the Haladaya Festival dancers of Daanbantayan in Sinulog 2007.
Garcia said the province would also include a float in this year’s Sinulog. The province could not yet decide, however, if the float would be made an entry into the float competition.
The governor said the float will have three sets, featuring the top three winners of the province’s Pasigarbo sa Sugbo festival queen competition last August – the Siloy festival of Alcoy town, the Kinsan festival of Aloquinsan and the Tostado festival of Santander.
Dolores Suzara, project director of SFI, said the Sinulog has improved every year, especially in terms of the dances.
She said the choreography of the Sinulog dancers has evolved and choreographers have become more artistic and creative in their movements.
The influence of the Sinulog has also shown in other festivals in the country. She said she noticed that most other festivals have Sinulog-inspired steps and beats.
