This is held in January at Cebu City to honor the child, Jesus, and is a two day celebration. The first day people would gather around the city in the hope that their prayers and hopes would be answered. The day after that people gather around the streets to watch floats, puppeteers, and dancers. During Holy Week, devotional crucifixions are held in the Philippines and some people try to reenact it. They can reenact it by whipping oneself, driving nails through the palms, and by being tied to the cross. Also, of course, Christmas is a huge celebration in the Philippines. Its known for having the longest celebration of Christmas, having it begin September. Even during September, you'll already hear carols being sang. "Parols" are also a big tradition. They are little lanterns that your are suppose to hang outside your house. They are also used to light up the streets on the Capitol, Manila. At December 16th, the Simbang Gabi masses will start to begin and there are nine early morning masses you have to attend. Then of course, on December 25, the official day of Christmas is celebrated and families gather around.
"PHILIPPINE Festival." Philippine Festivals. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
The sinulog festival sounds like a lot of fun! In Poland, they take easter very seriously in keeping all the tradition in the holiday. But this festival sounds like it is rooted in tradition by celebrating Jesus, reciting prayers the whole day, and reenacting the crucifixion. Just like Poland, food is very important to them in getting the food blessed. Poland and the Philippines are very much alike in the way they celebrate. They both celebrate based in tradition because tradition is very important to both countries.
ReplyDeleteI think it is pretty cool that they celebrate Jesus' birth with a festival. I learned a lot about customs from this blog thanks to your good research.
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