The Queen City of the South

The Department of Tourism in the Philippines just launched a new campaign highlighting tourism in the country with the slogan #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines.

And I think the tourism campaign is all sorts of awesome!!!

I was in the Philippines early last year, from December 2010 to February 2011, and was fortunate enough to be in Cebu for the annual Sinulog Festival. The Sinulog, which means “graceful dance” in English, is a festival held on the third Sunday of January every year in Cebu honoring the Sto. Niño, the child Jesus. It is a dance ritual which remembers the Filipino people’s pagan history and their eventual acceptance of Roman Catholicism as the dominant religion in the country.

For the first three weeks in January, Cebu City transforms into a very festive atmosphere with events and performances taking place every day leading up to the Sinulog Grand Parade. 2 million people converge onto the streets of Cebu City when the grand parade takes place turning the city into one giant street party.

In honor of Cebu City, nicknamed the Queen City of the South, below are photos of some of the Sinulog Festival Queens from Sinulog 2011. If you plan on going to visit the Philippines in the near future, I would HIGHLY recommend that you visit Cebu City in January in order to experience everything that the Sinulog Festival has to offer.

My full photo set from Sinulog 2011 can be found on Flickr.