Garcia restores original Sinulog theme for 2025, drops Rama’s plan

Sinulog sa Sugbo 2024 at South Road Properties (SRP)/ Christian Dave Cuizon

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia announced that the city will return to using the original theme of the Sinulog Festival, “One Beat, One Dance, One Vision,” for the 2025 celebration.

Garcia wants to discontinue the thematic concepts introduced by former Mayor Michael Rama. Rama had designated “Sinulog sa Sugbo Philippines” as this year’s official Sinulog theme and also announced that for 2025 the theme would be “Sinulog sa Sugbo World.”

For the 2023 celebration, he used the tagline “One Cebu Island Sinulog 2023.”

“That simple. No more ‘Sinulog to the world,’ ‘Sinulog to the Philippines.’ It would be really simple,” Garcia said during a press conference on October 21.

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Garcia also said that the city had allocated P105 million for the upcoming Sinulog Festival, which would be held on January 19, 2025, the third Sunday of the month.

The mayor also said that subsidies and prizes for participating contingents would increase, and for the first time, registration fees for the puppeteers and higantes categories would be waived.

“Ngano ato man i-waive? Because it is a form of art and we want to promote art and we want to promote the artists,” Garcia said.

(Why are we waiving them? Because it is a form of wart and we want to promote art and we want to promote the artists.)

The winners of the puppeteers and higantes categories will receive P100,000 for first place, P75,000 for second place, and P50,000 for third place.

Subsidies for dancing contingents will also increase, with out-of-town groups set to receive P1.5 million, up from P800,000. Cebu City contingents and those from Cebu Province will each get P1 million, an increase from the previous P800,000.

Additionally, government agencies participating in the float competition will be exempt from registration fees, as Garcia wants to showcase local government units.

According to the Sinulog Foundation Inc., 17 contingents have already confirmed their participation in the grand parade as of the third week of October.

Garcia is optimistic that more will join as organizers enhance their marketing efforts on social media.

“Once it is out, I’m sure more (will join), especially with the subsidy,” he said.

The mayor pointed out that the choice of venue, the Cebu City Sports Center, is a significant factor in attracting more participants.

“By this time last year, there were only around five, but now we already have 17,” Garcia said.

Regarding international interest, Garcia revealed that a contingent from South Korea expressed its intention to join the festival.