Lanao Norte all set for 5th participation in Sinulog

Wednesday 16th of January 2013

TUBOD, Lanao del Norte, Jan 16 -- Arriving in the Queen City of the South on January 15 for its fifth consecutive participation in Sinulog Festival, the Lanao del Norte contingent is all set to showcase the colorful "Sarimanok Festival" of Kolambugan town.

Collectively known as "Tribu Sarimanok," this is the biggest contingent this fast-rising province is sending to the annual festival here in Cebu City.

“We have about 370 people comprising our contingent. This year, our performance is filled with lots of surprises that will surely excite the Sinulog audience,” Provincial Tourism Head Minda Regis said.

After months of backbreaking rehearsals and creation of intricate props and costumes, everything finally adds up to another epic competition for both local and out-of-town contingents.

In Sinulog 2013, Lanao del Norte will again be competing in the Free Interpretation category which is considered by choreographers and Sinulog devotees as the most competitive category in the annual festival.

The Land of Beauty and Bounty contingent has consistently won in both the Sinulog Showdown event and Street Dancing category making them one of the crowd favorite in the competition.

“Our main purpose in joining this highly-anticipated festival is to show to the Philippines and even the whole world that Lanao del Norte is a peaceful and a beautiful province,” Governor Khalid Dimaporo enthused.

Lanao del Norte is known as the "Motocross Capital of the Philippines" after hosting numerous international motocross competitions and freestyle motocross events. The province has also been identified by the Philippine Basketball Association as the "Home of the PBA" in Mindanao.

“We have a very unique contingent this year, because some of our dancers and propsmen are Muslims but they are very passionate in their performance. This shows that Muslims and Christians in Lanao del Norte are united because we respect each other’s culture and religion,” Information Officer Lyndon Calica added.

In this year’s festival, a total of 41 contingents will be competing in the Sinulog-based and Free Interpretation categories. Two contingents are from out-of-town in the Sinulog-based while there are six contingents in the Free Interpretation.

The head choreographer for Tribu Sarimanok is Mark Barry Luchie. (VNL/PIO-LDN/PIA10)