Contingents from the different towns and cities in Cebu join the “Pasigarbo sa Sugbo” (Pride of Cebu) festival on Sunday, August 28, 2022. (DALE ISRAEL / INQUIRER VISAYAS)
CEBU CITY — Cebu province’s biggest festival was revived on Sunday, two years after it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pasigarbo sa Sugbo (Pride of Cebu) festival featured street dancing and ritual showdown from 50 contingents representing each of the component towns and cities of the province in the event that lasted for more than 10 hours.
Each contingent had over 100 performers who danced from the Cebu capitol towards the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) via Osmeña Boulevard.
Thousands of spectators filled the streets while roughly 10,000 occupied the CCSC at the peak of the event, which lasted past midnight.
Each town or city featured its own festivals, tourist sites, delicacies, and famous industries.
The Cebu provincial government provided P1 million in subsidy for every 50 participating towns and cities, while local governments from the islands of Camotes and Bantayan were given P1.5 million each.
The big winners of Sunday’s event include Carcar City’s Kabkaban festival featuring its culture and heritage sites. The city boasts of its century-old villas and traditions dating back to the Spanish colonial period. It won first prize in both ritual showdown and street dancing categories.
Contingents from the different towns and cities in Cebu join the “Pasigarbo sa Sugbo” (Pride of Cebu) festival on Sunday, August 28, 2022. (DALE ISRAEL / INQUIRER VISAYAS)
Toledo City and its Hinulawan Festival, which highlights the mining industry in the city, were also named winners. The dancers wore costumes of miners for the event. In the ritual showdown, it came in second.
On the other hand, the City of Naga featured Dagitab, or the Festival of Light, highlighting the city as the home of major power plants in Cebu province. It won third place in the ritual showdown.
Panumod Festival in Barili features the traditional practice of bringing poultry, livestock, and farm animals to the public market for trade. It bagged second place in the street dancing category.
Famous rosquillos cookies were featured in Liloan, the hometown of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco.
Other festivals featured the Cebu-endemic and endangered Siloy bird which is only found in the Nug-as Forest in Alcoy.
Some festivals highlighted their beaches, waterfalls, and rich marine resources, including those in Bantayan Island towns, Camotes Island group, Moalboal, Oslob, Boljoon, and Samboan.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia earlier announced that the province was exiting the pandemic and declared the province “back to normal.”
READ: SLIDESHOW: Pasigarbo sa Sugbo 2022 Festival Queens