Cebupop Celebrates Pearl Anniversary

CEBU, Philippines - Now on its 30th year, the Cebu Popular Music Festival once again carves another achievement that will form part of its long history.

Recently named by the Cebu Provincial Government as one of the four “Garbo sa Sugbo” awardees during the 440th Provincial Charter Day celebration in August 2009, the Cebu Arts Foundation, Inc., the prime mover of the said festival, continues its noble aim to help preserve the Cebuano culture in the field of Original Cebuano Songwriting. This one-of-a-kind event in Cebu is aligned with the Sinulog week-long celebration.

Held always on a Friday before the 3rd Sunday of January, which is the Sinulog Feast Day the Cebu Popular Music Festival reels off on January 15 this year at the New Cebu Coliseum, 7:30pm. Sans the usual songwriting competition only for this year, the stirring committee is presenting a concert of past winning songs since the beginning of the Festival. The event will really be full of surprises as the committee is doing its best to reach out to all original interpreters who, maybe for the first time after their winning, will be back on Cebupop stage. Some selected pre-Pop songs (original Cebuano songs made popular prior to Cebupop) will also form a good part in the said concert.

The biggest come-on of this year’s 30th year presentation is the coming back of Sharon Magdayao, the little girl of eight who won the Grand Prize through the song Paglaum: Kabataan in 1987. The song was composed by Fr. Fritz Malinao of Bogo, Cebu. But that little girl has turned into a full-blown woman who just mothered a baby, too. She is better known now as Ms. Vina Morales.

Vina will also be doing her comeback concert on Cebupop stage. The concert will showcase the rise of Vina from the time she first won in the Cebupop contest to her now being one of the most sought-after international stage performers of our time.

Be there and see history unfold as the Cebu Popular Music Festival takes you down memory lane and brings you back to the present with the brand of songs Vina Morales is now known for.

Tickets to the Cebupop concert are pegged at P50, P100, P200 and P300 only. Please call 255-2561 for inquiries.