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ON ITS seventh year, the search for the Sinulog Festival Queen will have better pageantry, as well as a grander prize.
Vince Escario, chairman of the Sinulog Festival Queen pageant, said organizers were beefing up the search because it was not just a battle of beauty and dancing skills, but was also a way of showcasing the different cultures of the Philippines, not just Cebu.
?This is also the day to get a preview of what is going to happen in Sinulog. It is where tourists can get excerpts of the dance, the musicality, and what kind of costumes the contingents have,? Escario said.
This year, organizers are dangling P50,000 as the grand prize for the festival queen competition. Second place gets P30,000 and P20,000 for the third place.
Last year, the Festival Queen received P30,000 while runners up received P20,000 and P10,000.
Escario said the increase in prizes was partly due to the increase in the number of sponsors for the competition.
?The sponsors are clamoring to sponsor the pageant. We are very much on safe ground. We wouldn?t have the audacity to increase the prizes if we were not sure of our finances,? Escario said.
The Sinulog Festival Queen competition will be held on Jan. 15.
Also a first for this year, the reigning Festival Queen will be the one to crown her successor.
?The important thing is that the contestants can project the sincere joy and fulfillment Queen Juana must have felt when she received the Santo Niño. The Festival Queen is the modern day Queen Juana,? said Escario, referring to the Christian name of Hara Amihan, wife of Cebu?s 16th century chieftain Rajah Humabon, who welcomed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.
The deadline to apply for entry into the Festival Queen competition is on Jan. 13. The competition is open to contestants between 14 and 24 years of age, and part of a contingent for the Sinulog.
In the Sinulog?s 30th anniversary this year, festival organizers said they hoped that a Cebuana would take the crown this time.
In the previous six pageants, the crown has been won by out-of-town contestants.
