Fiesta nation

Pinoys don’t take much of a break from festivities and festivals. Barely recovering from what is touted to be the longest Christmas celebration in the world, devotees by the millions have geared up for the Feast of the Black Nazarene, which culminates tomorrow in a grand, frenzied procession – re-enacting the Traslacion or transfer, in 1787, of the image from its original location at what is now Rizal Park to its home in the Quiapo Church – that could take anywhere from 14 to 22 (the record) hours. The life-size image was carved in Mexico from dark, mesquite wood and brought over via galleon in 1606 by the Agustinian Recollect friars. Interestingly, the image brought out for today’s vigil and the procession tomorrow is a composite of the original statue’s body with a replica head, from the image commissioned by the Archdiocese of Manila; this image is brought out only for three major processions – on New Year, Good Friday and Jan. 9. Its “twin” – composed of the original head and the replica body – is the one displayed in Quiapo Church.  

The festivities – and the frenzy – continues in the Visayas, when Aklan hosts the Ati-Atihan with week-long activities highlighted by the grand parade on Saturday. Datu Puti (now immortalized as a popular brand of cane vinegar) and his nine Malay chieftains could not have imagined that the feast following their gift-giving (that golden salakot!) to the native Atis of Panay started a tradition that is an international tourist attraction eight centuries later. When the Spanish priests came, they were unable to stop the pagan ritual of raucous, unbridled dancing, so they decided to just add some religious elements and it became a festival in honor of the Santo Niño (Infant Jesus).

This week also is the Sinulog festival in Cebu. Likewise pagan in origin (as is most, if not all, festivals), it came to be in honor of the Santo Niño image given to Rajah Humabon’s wife now enshrined in the Basilica Minori del Santo Niño. It used to be only the candle vendors outside the church who did the undulating sinulog (mimicking the current of the river) dance – two steps forward, one step back. The first public Sinulog parade was held in 1980 involving physical education teachers in Cebu. It grew from there, and now, nearly four decades later, it is a multimillion-peso industry, with elaborate costumes, complicated choreography – and for the winner of the grand street dance competition next Sunday (a day after the Ati-Atihan), a hefty cash prize and, more important, über bragging rights.

If you still feel like dancing in the streets, head over to Iloilo for the Dinagyang the following week. An Ilonggo term for merrymaking, Dinagyang is again a festival in honor of the Santo Niño. A replica of the Cebu image was brought to Iloilo in 1968 as a gift to the San Jose Parish, and a parade from airport to church was organized by devotees to give it a proper welcome. It was subsequently adopted as a tourism event and won acclaim as the first festival in the world to get UN support for the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals.

So go on – from Quiapo to Kalibo, Cebu to Iloilo, dance and frolic your heart out, it’s just one big party. But keep in mind that Chinese New Year celebrations come just a week after that, but that is another story for another day.