Saturday, January 20, 2007 Editorials: Repackaging a festival
THE observations of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña on the “defects” of this Sunday’s Sinulog grand parade seem on target, only that these were made rather late.
Osmeña was reacting to reports on the drop in the number of out-of-town contingents in this Sunday’s event that he fears signals backsliding on the part of the Sinulog Foundation Inc., the festival’s organizer.
The mayor obviously has his own concept of the Sinulog that he wants organizers to subscribe to, thus his vow to initiate the repackaging of the activity starting next year.
The realization of that promise, though, hinges on two things: that he gets reelected in May and no Asean summit-like activity will again disturb his concentration.
Paradigm shift
But first, there should be a unity on the future direction of the Sinulog.
Or is a paradigm shift needed considering comments on the tendency of the activity to be repetitive and therefore monotonous and in recognition of the evolution of the festival since its birth almost three decades ago?
Any repackaging effort, however, conjures two lines of thinking---one favoring the preservation of the original intention of the celebration and the other pushing for changes, or of continuously raising the level of the activity.
Mardi gras capital
In expressing disappointment over the shrinking of the participation of out-of-town contingents in this year’s Sinulog, the mayor was apparently clinging to the vision suggested in 2004 of making Cebu City the “grand Mardi gras capital in Asia.”
Following that direction partly means putting more emphasis on what has become a feature in the evolution of the Sinulog, which is the entry of delegations representing the other major festivals in the country.
This is also a recognition of the contention that what has prevented the Sinulog from going moribund is the unpredictability, creativity and color injected by out-of-towners into what is in essence a cyclic undertaking.
Caution
But while that goal sounds appealing, it also begs the question of how much of the original intention of the Sinulog will be sacrificed to achieve it.
Even now, there are already complaints about the influence of the other festivals like the Ati-atihan and Dinagyang seeping into the Sinulog dance, making it gradually lose its unique flavor.
That aside from unease over the over-commercialization of the ritual.
Thus, while a paradigm shift on the Sinulog may be acceptable, it should be done with caution and the final product decided upon with inputs from all those concerned.
