The Alang-Alang town contingent of Leyte province, shown here during last year’s Sinulog Grand Parade, will rejoin next year after recovering from supertyphoon Yolanda’s devastation. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
Cebu City residents and visitors can expect a bigger and brighter celebration next year as the Sinulog festival turns 35 years old.
Champion contingents from Abuyog and Alang Alang towns in Leyte province are expected to make a comeback in the annual competition to recount how they survived supertyphoon Yolanda through their performances.
Masbate province will send two contingents to the Sinulog despite the damages they incurred from typhoon Ruby which hit their area early this week.
Kulturang Placernon won the championship in this year’s Sinulog Based (SB) category while Tribu Himag-ulaw placed second to Lumad Basakanon of barangay Basak San Nicolas in Cebu City in the Free Interpretation (FI) category.
Ricky Ballesteros, Sinulog Foundation Inc. executive director, said 11 out-of-town contingents signified their participation in the grand parade scheduled on January 18, 2015.
Pilgrimage
Other out-of-town contingents include the municipality of Panglao in Bohol province, Tangub City in Misamis Occidental, Sibulan City in Negros Oriental, Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato, Surigao del Norte and Catbalogan town in Samar province.
Sibulan City’s Yagyag festival dancers were also named champions in the Street Dancing competition in the Aliwan festival while the dancing “bees” of Abuyog town in Leyte province were named FI champions in 2009.
Abuyog Mayor Octavio “Bebot” Traya Jr. visited Cebu last January with his family and office staffs for a pilgrimage at the basilica and to watch the grand parade.
Next year, they will again try to win the Sinulog crowd aside from performing their offering to the Sto. Niño.
Ballesteros said the Tribu Sinanduloy contingent of Tangub City that placed second in this year’s SB is also returning next year with a “totally different concept.”
Subsidized
“It’s going to be an exciting Sinulog next year,” he told Cebu Daily News.
Ballesteros said while they expect the competition to intensify, Sinulog organizers are also considering the possibility of increasing the cash prizes for the second and third placers.
Champions in the SB and FI are now getting P1 million while the second and third placer gets P500,000 and 300,000 respectively.
Ballesteros said they wanted to increase the cash prizes for the second and third placers to P700,000 and P500,000.
Organizers are raising P40 million to P45 million to fund this year’s competition. About P25 million will be subsidized by the Cebu City government.
Part of the allocation will also be released at P150,000 each as financial aid to the out-of-town contingents, Ballesteros said.