Sinulog 2026

We're hearing lots of very loud drums and seeing lots of decorations.  It's the yearly celebration of Sinulog -- an almost weeklong party culminating today (Sunday, January 18) with a huge parade and more dancing in the streets.  They say people will party 24 hrs/day all weekend long and then they will sleep for 24 hours on Monday.

We got to see a mini-Sinulog celebration in the Ayala shopping center this week, with dancers and drummers.  Other than that, we will let people party and we will go to church today.  Too many people congregating for me -- millions, they say.

In 1521, the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, led a Spanish expedition to Cebu, bringing Christianity to Philippines and claiming the land for Spain.  For the next 300 years, the Philippines would be under Spanish rule.  Lots of Filipino names sound very Spanish.

Magellan presented an image of Santo Niño (the child Jesus) to the queen of Philippines.  This image and others like it are used in the Sinulog celebration.  Incidentally, Magellan was killed with a poison arrow by Filipinos who resisted conversion to Christianity.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Shopping at a huge mall here in Cebu -- the Ayala Mall and Metro store.  We thought the Mall of Scandinavia in Stockholm (which was the largest in Sweden) was huge, but this is even bigger.  We got lost several times.  Lots of Sinulog decorations everywhere.

Lots of Santo Niño dolls, patterned after the original image that Magellan left in Cebu, are for sale everywhere.  Magellan left the image with the queen, and then it was lost, but years later, it was re-discovered.

Shrine in the mall with lots of images of Santo Niño made by different people.  The Ayala shopping center has 7 levels, with 3 below ground.  Here we are looking down on the Sinulog display from a higher level.

Love the quote center bottom: "Sometimes I am too hard on myself, God.  I expect myself to be perfect, but you only expect me to try."  Fits me to a T.  Interesting carvings and sculptures of Santo Niño (the child Jesus).

Love this also:  "Today I will remind myself that I am a person of worth.  God created me and he loves me."  So true.  We are all children of God -- sons and daughters of heavenly parents.  He loves us and wants us to come back to Him.  This is why we serve missions: to share this truth with the world.

Very delicate and intricate work honoring Santo Niño.  We too believe in the healing power of Jesus Christ, but we don't use a lot of images in our worship.  So grateful that Jesus was born on earth, that he suffered and died, performing his marvelous atonement for all, and that he rose again and is alive today.

Enjoyed our "mini-Sinulog" experience at the local mall.  Now we don't have to go to the main celebration with millions of people.  The dancing, according to Wikipedia, represents, among other things, "Queen Juana holding the Santo Niño in her arms and using it to bless her people, who were often afflicted with sickness believed to be caused by demons and other evil spirits."  The Sinulog celebration is actually a combination of religious and pagan traditions.  But I think that mostly it's become a time to party.