A day before the feast (and the Sinulog Grand Parade,) the Solemn Foot Procession is held. The procession, which starts and ends at the Basilica, passes through major city roads. Aside from the actual Sinulog Parade, the Solemn Foot Procession of the image of the Senyor Santo Niño is one of the most well-attended activities of the whole Sinulog season. This year, a record-breaking 1.8 million people joined the procession. That’s almost the population of the whole city. (Which brings police estimates of the whole Sinulog season to around 8 million. Wow!)
The Solemn Foot Procession is first and foremost a religious activity. The people who flock to the streets to honor the holy image say their prayers in silence. At times, they sing in unison as they wave their hands as a sign of devotion to Senyor Santo Niño.
From beginning til end, the procession moves in a slow but steady pace. Although the event attracts millions, the devotees walk the whole route in a disciplined and orderly manner.
Viva! Pit Senyor!
Two hours before the start of the procession.
The procession started at around 1 pm. Just a few minutes past two, the head of the procession reached Fuente Osmeña.
The head of the parade consists of a group of young altar boys, a big band, and the members of Knights of Colombus.
Members of Knights of Colombus.
A young guy carrying his Niño in green.
A group of paraplegic guys joins the parade.
I LOVE Cebu!
Lucky kid. 🙂
A few minutes later, the image of San Jose arrived.
Closer shot.
Later, we saw the guys from the Cebu City Government.
Was quite surprised to find Gwen there.
The sun was still hot so thousands of umbrellas covered Jones Avenue.
Santo Niño on a trisikad.
A cute Niño on top of a cowboy.
A very huge image of the Niño.
This one is made of wood. I’m sure it’s a bit heavy.
These guys were busy fixing the crown of their Niño.
Niños in a basket.
Nursing students were there.
Niño on a stroller.
The girl scouts were also there.
A lady praying the rosary.
Guys in hats with their Niños.
A cute girl dressed in red and gold.
The students from CDU were also there.
A pack of Niños.
Love this shot. A young girl carrying her Niño in a cute green outfit.
Sleeping beside the Niño.
When it was a lot cooler, the umbrellas disappeared. And this was what we saw. Wow!
Three in one!
More than an hour after Saint Joseph’s carozza, another carozza reached the Fuente Osmeña.
Image of Nuestra Señora dela Consolacion y Correa.
Closer view of the image.
Thirty minutes later.
A baby dressed as a Niño.
This guy raised his Niño when I tried to take a picture of them. 🙂
All-white! Cute!
More people. This can only mean one thing.
Comfortable spot.
Different Niños.
That guy holding a phone is a friend and high-school classmate. He’s one of Cebu’s awesome photographers.
More people! Wow! Look at that!
The carroza is still nowhere in sight.
A cute kid and his Niño.
Niño in white robe.
Niño in green.
Finally, He’s here.
The number of people more or less doubled.
The carozza surrounded by priests and security personnel.
Viva Senyor Santo Niño. Pit Senyor!
Bato Balani sa Gugma.
The other side of the street was also suddenly filled with people!
Wow! Look at that!
Good job! These men and women really did an excellent job.
Due to the number of people, there were several halts in the procession. This was to make sure that no one got hurt especially in major choke points. During one of those halts, I saw someone familiar. Hehehe. Spotted! He is a friend and a classmate in college. Now, officially a man of God. 🙂 Congrats and Good luck, Algie!
A guy silently waits for the procession to move again.
Two kids carrying their huge image of the Niño.
More people behind the carro.
Does this cute little girl look familiar to you?
When I saw this young girl on her father’s shoulders, I thought that she looked kinda familiar. I must have seen her somewhere. But where?
So, I reviewed all of my photos and hoped that I’d find the answer to my question.
When I opened the folder of photos I took in 2010, I knew that I’d found her. She was the young girl I took a photograph of during the Solemn Foot Procession of 2010. That was three years ago! She was also holding an image of the Niño. And she was also on her father’s shoulders!
Here’s a short video of the procession.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1eqRUAPeJg]
Pit Senyor, guys!
Hi! I am first time here at your blog and I have to tell you that I am very impressed! I especially loge that photo with all umbrellas! It’s wonderful!
Mira
Spectacular shots the colors the sea of people but its funny my favorite shot was of the lone policeman
Which picture is that, sir?
The one called comfortable spot
Wow!!!record-breaking 1.8 million people joined the procession…again another colorful and fantastic pictures bai Ley!!!worthy jud if moapil ka sa procession…bisan kapoy basta pra kang snr. sto. nino baliwala tanan!wlang ganyan sa abroad sa cebu lang yan!!!i wish nxt sinulog mkauli ko!!!
Thanks for these fotos of the solemn procession. Just looking at them made me feel that the Sto Niño has blessed me even if i wasn’t able to join. I feel so guilty though for being absent from this religious event and made a solemn promise not to miss it next time. Pit Senyor!!
that’s a lot of people, that’s why no need for gwen to participate. 🙂 love the girl scouts uniform. well done, ley. God bless.
Great entry Ley! It’s worth the wait.
Ley, i want to tweet and post a link to your blog sa akong FB account. I just feel like everyone should read this. I’ll use one of your photos para daghan ang mo-click sa link ha. 🙂 Of course I know all your images are copyrighted so ill make sure it’s properly credited. 😉
Great pics as usual Ley! Salamat kaayo kay mora sab mig tua didto sa procession.
Time has gone by so quickly! I was just there last year. The same sea of people with their umbrellas but that time it was pouring rain. It seemed like the day was blessed with sunshine – just wonderful! Pit Senyor!
Blessed all those who attend the Foot Procession,
Thank you Ley and Bless you.
nice shots ley….. blessed all those who attend the foot procession.. i was one of them..viva pit senyor.. thanks again ley.. 🙂
thanks, shai! 🙂
Great blog !!
nice ayo mga pics! I hope next year you’ll again capture the little girl on her dad’s shoulder. and I hope when this little girl grow up, she’ll stumble sa imo blog and see her pics, it’ll be more special for her esp karga sya sa iyang papa..