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It was a warm and sunny day when I strolled around the Capitol area of Cebu City. The city was buzzing as the whole province was in anticipation for a celebration dubbed as Cebu’s “Festival of Festivals”. The event would include a competition between contingents from the different municipalities and cities of the province of Cebu vying for the top prizes in Ritual Dancing, Street Dancing, and Festival Queen. This was a showcase of Cebu’s best in one venue dubbed as the “Pasigarbo sa Sugbo 2024”  The Pasigarbo sa Sugbo is a gathering of the best festival performers of the province of Cebu. The Pasigarbo sa Sugbo celebration is one of the highlights of the province’s Foundation Day. It aims to bring together the different festivals from the different corners of Cebu in one stage. The goal is to showcase and promote the culture, product, and beauty of the municipality or city to those watching the showcase. This is done in an elaborate presentation of creative storytelling of dance, matched with colorful costumes and huge props. This year’s festival had a total of 51 contingents and brings back the celebration to the streets of Cebu City and the Cebu City Sports Complex. Kwento ng Pasigarbo The Pasigarbo sa Sugbo was the brainchild of the incumbent Governor Gwen Garcia. Launched in 2008, the goal was to bring on one stage the different festivals of the municipalities and cities of Cebu. “Pasigarbo” is rooted from the Cebuano word “garbo” which means pride. The festival highlights the pride of the Cebu’s colorful culture and celebrations of the province of Cebu.  We are ready to witness the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo 2024 at the Cebu City Sports Complex. Photo by: IG @zaridads. The first venue of the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo was at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City. It was later moved to the Cebu City Sports Complex after the former venue was deemed unsafe from the damages brought by the earthquake and Typhoon Yolanda. In its 9 years of staging, Bantayan’s Palawod Festival and Carcar City’s Kabkaban Festival has brought home the top prize for a total of 3 years each. This year brings together a total of 51 contingents on Cebu City’s streets and on the stage of the Cebu City Sports Complex. Pasigarbo Sa Dalan The street dance exhibition started at around 2pm that started along V. Rama snaking its way to the Provincial Capitol to Fuente Osmena down to Osmena Boulevard and finally to the Cebu City Sports Complex. The final stop is the venue for the Ritual Dance Showdown. There are stops along the way where the participants showcase their street dancing to the tune of the theme of the “Pasigarbo sa Sugbo”.
The streetdance ensemble includes the municipality or city’s float, their Festival Queen, the Festival Dancers, and their beautifully-designed carozas honoring their patron saints. The ensembles parades through the city and, at specific points (judging areas, I presume), they engage the audience with their ritual street dance routine. The participants continue the display of creativity and movement rain or shine and throughout the duration of the celebration. The smiles and the sways are all weather and time proof, I must say.
This year’s Pasigarbo sa Sugbo had the Cebu City contingent leading the front as guest performers. I was only able to catch the performers from Cebu City, Tuburan, San Remigio, and Toledo City at the start of the parade because it started to drizzle. We had to rush to the sports complex from Fuente Osmena which made me miss out on the street dancing of the first batch of the contingents. But I chanced upon the contingents who were still on the parade route at 10.30pm at Fuente Osmena. I was able to catch up with the contingents like Alegria, Cordova, Consolacion, and Minglanilla. The energy and smiles remain high and bright despite having been on the route for close to 10 hours. They were slowly inching their way to the venue but their energy remains high and they were always ready to give the audience a street performance with so much gusto. Pasigarbo sa Entablado The festivities of the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo 2024 culminates at the Cebu City Sports Complex where a huge stage serves as the main showdown area. This is where the Ritual Dancing Competition are held in front of esteemed judges and hundreds of spectators. The bleachers of the complex are filled to the brim as the entrance is free to the public. The huge stage has one entrance at R. Landon Extension and one exit towards Bacalso Avenue. This allows a smooth flow of contingents from their entrance to their exit. The rules of the competition are strict. Contingents have a minute to ingress their props as their mayor gives them their introduction. Their music plays as soon as the introduction ends, no cues given. As soon as the presentation is done, the team has a full minute to extract EVERYTHING offstage. Failure to follow these rules would mean a deduction and, if you are in luck, a mild scolding from their beloved Governor Gwen.
You might think that it is such an easy task but, when you have a battalion of dancers and a lot of huge props and backdrops to move around, it can be nerve wracking even for us in the audience. But I guess these performers have been trained perfectly as they seem to execute everything flawlessly. Everything seems to work like clockwork. Despite the event being a competition, each contingent all fully aware of the part that they play, cooperates, and understands how they are connected to each other’s performances.
I was totally not prepared that the whole festivities would run until early in the morning. I only had the chance to watch the first batch of 17 municipalities. I must say that I was impressed by how the whole program flowed flawlessly. It was a visual and audio treat for me who enjoys theater and artistic live productions. It was like watching 17 short theater productions with all the works. It was really impressive and amazing. Too bad though that I was not able to watch all 51 contingents. Pasigarbo Talagsaon The Pasigarbo sa Sugbo 2024 ended with a high in the wee hours of the next day. Naga City’s Dagitab Festival brought home the top prize when they dazzled the audience with their music and movement highlighted by an amazing light show. Carcar City’s Kabkaban Festival brought home the top prize for the Street Dancing Competition. My personal favorites from the batch that I watched was the Tuba Festival of Borbon finished at 7th Place and Toledo’s Hinulwan Festival finished at 9th Place.
On a personal note, Borbon’s Tuba Festival was my biggest winner. The group’s catchy rhythm and creative and fun presentation of work-life balance piqued my interest. Their music, movements, and OG style of performance really brought the house down. It was a performance that really made a mark for being fun and amusing. If the goal was to showcase and promote tourism and culture, Borbon’s performance successfully influenced me to read about the municipality and plan a trip there to explore the place and have a taste of their famed tuba. Borbon can expect me to visit their place after watching them at the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo 2024! POST TRAVEL NOTES I am no longer wondering how Cebu stands unified as one province. With an event like Pasigarbo sa Sugbo, the celebration effectively brings together the province into a friendly competition while enforcing the values of unity, resilience, and the sense of Cebuano pride. The province has effectively preserved and showcased its colorful culture and traditions to Cebuanos and to the world whilst instilling that sense of pride in my minds of the younger generation. Pasigarbo sa Sugbo fires up the creativity of its local talents and the Cebuano pride through world-class performances in one stage.  Isang biskwit and nagdala sa akin sa lugar na ito. San tayo sunod? Local governments play a huge role in promoting tourism in their local communities. They should be opening opportunities for communities and groups to showcase their products, talents, and attractions to a wider audience. The exposure would create interest in the destination that would translate to alternative sustainable livelihood aligned with tourism. Local community fairs and festivities bring new and renewed interests to the destination. Like what I have already said that my biggest take away from the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo 2024 is that I will be exploring you soon, Borbon! #MahalinNatinAngPilipinas #CebuSeries Getting there: Pasigarbo sa Sugbo is celebrated during the month of August, during the Founding Anniversary of the province. There are direct flights from major cities in the country and international airports to Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the main gateway of the province. From the airport, there are public transports, public taxis, and ride-hailing transport to the city. Shoutout to my travel buddies - HULL & STERN Dry Bags for keeping my stuff safe and dry during my travels and MAGWAI for their alternative and eco-friendly products for my local travels.
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Marc del Rosario
I believe in education, entrepreneurship, and caring for the environment. 
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