Cebu to hold Sinulog festival sans street dancing

There will be no street dancing for the traditional Sinulog Festival in Cebu this year as the local government decided to simplify its activities instead due to the pandemic and as the province continues to recover from the devastation brought about by Typhoon Odette.

According to a report from GMA Regional TV Balitang Bisdak, church officials decided to suspend penitential walks and fluvial procession in the festival.

Online novena masses will instead be held to celebrate the festival.

A motorcade procession bearing the image of the Sto. Nino will be the first to cross the new third bridge or the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway. The motorcade will pass through the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, and Cordova before returning to Cebu City.

At dawn on Friday, at the start of the nine-day Novena Masses in honor of the Holy Infant Jesus, a motorcade procession will be held in Cebu City.

Last year, authorities also canceled some activities in the Sinulog Festival due tot he COVID-19 pandemic. -- Consuelo Marquez/BAP, GMA News