THE live streaming of the Sinulog celebration is not new. For several years now, organizers and media organizations like SunStar have been airing the festivities on the internet with much impact.
It was SunStar in fact that pioneered the live streaming of the Sinulog when in 2009 it aired the religious and cultural activities of Cebu’s festival on the internet. There was no social media then or video streaming platforms but SunStar, through its website at www.sunstar.com.ph, brought the Sinulog live from Cebu to homes and offices abroad.
Cebuanos got to hear the Sinulog beat, saw in real time the festivities. Every Sinulog, SunStar reported on the festival through live streaming, social media and website updates, photo and video contributions from the public and real-time interviews with people on the streets. Filipinos in their living rooms and bedrooms in various parts of the globe found a way to reconnect with stories from home. And they were grateful for the connection and for curing their homesickness.
A Cebuana in New Jersey in the United States turned up the volume of her computer to dance the Sinulog before her children. It was like we were home, she said.
The streaming of Sinulog activities live over the internet is the popular way for those outside of Cebu to take part in the celebration, albeit in a virtual manner.
Their messages of thanks made all the effort towards airing the Sinulog live via the internet worth it.
Will these change today, Sunday, the culmination of a different kind of Sinulog 2021?
Yes and no. There will be no dancing on the streets, no public merrymaking, no dance contingents, floats and higantes. What will not change is the live report on the internet of what is happening as part of the celebration in this time of the pandemic.
The Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI) promised a grand virtual Sinulog today, Sunday, that can be viewed on its website at sinulog.ph, on YouTube and on its Facebook page. The 10-hour virtual program starts at 9 a.m. with a mass to open the show. To be featured are past Sinulog celebrations, winning performances and other highlights. Also to be presented are celebrations by Filipinos abroad. The SFI said it has received entries from Las Vegas, New York, Portugal and Taiwan.
The SunStar special on the Sinulog to be aired on the website and its Facebook accounts will also feature Cebuanos abroad and how their celebration has changed because of the pandemic restrictions. A group, the Cebuano Speaking Association of Tidewater, in Virginia in the US will be one of those featured in the SunStar coverage. While the group’s Sinulog activity this year is limited to the Sto. Niño de Cebu virtual mass, their devotion to the child Jesus did not waver.
This is the message that will be repeated in today’s Sinulog celebration. That the pandemic will not weaken our love for the Sto. Niño.