The Sinulog Festival in Cebu is one of the Philippines’ grandest celebrations in honour of the Santo Niño, the Child Jesus. Its street parades are famous for their elaborate costumes — bright, detailed and often carrying images of the Santo Niño — worn by dancers moving to the rhythm of drums.

Costume is at the heart of Sinulog’s visual spectacle. Each contingent’s dress reflects the devotion and creativity of its community, and, as the original Kapampangan caption below notes, the beauty of the costume matches the beauty of the person wearing it.

The photograph in this post is from the Sinulog celebrations in 2013.

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Kalagu na ing costume ning sinulog bage yang bage keng lagu ning susulud.

Another Santo Niño festival from the same year is in our photographs of the Ati-Atihan Festival 2013 in Kalibo, Aklan.