Sinukwan Festival

Sinukwan Festival is a weeklong festival that captures the soul of San Fernando City. It is best described as the essence of the Kapampangan Spirit.

Sinukwan is a cultural festival, so you would expect that most of the events are steeped in the traditional culture of the natives. A festival of this magnitude in the Philippines is incomplete without the spectacular street dances that bring locals together in a remarkably fluid manner.

Sinukwan Festival Details

Visitors who attend the festival are wowed by the synchrony of dancers gyrating to the tunes of the ‘Atin Cu Pung Singsing’. At the heart of the Sinukwan Festival is the honor accorded to Aring Sinukwan. The locals revere this god believed to be a deity since ancient civilizations.

Visitors are always awed to learn that the festival brings on board various schools, complete with their colorful costumes and vivacious energy. For families traveling with kids, this is certainly the part of the festival where there is loads of fun.

Other attractions at the festival include the local photography competitions, cultural shows, and pageants where participants battle it out for the festival’s title. Food fairs on location give visitors a chance to savor local cuisine and indulge in an array of delicacies. For the artsy individual, a tour of the crafts fair section is an amazing way to enjoy the festival.

Sinukwan Festival is an annual event held in December. Since it often coincides with a number of other international public holidays, visitors should expect soaring numbers on the location, so it helps to plan in advance and arrive early enough.

Sinukwan Festival History

This is a Kapampangan festival which is being held during the last month of the year. It may sometimes hit a November start date but the main event usually falls on the month of December.

This is only just one of the many festivals held in Pampanga in the prosperous city of San Fernando. Like with the famous Giant Lantern Festival, this is also a big event of the city. In fact, it makes you want to stay longer in the City for a whole month of December just to witness and participate in the event as the city is at its liveliest and brightness as well as busiest during these events.

The Sinukwan Festival is believed to be an old tradition but there has been no accurate date or year to which it was founded. However, it has been celebrated throughout the years and made a big impact on the people’s culture that they happily celebrate every year.

The Sinukwan represents and honors King Sinukwan or what locals would call, “Aring Sinukwan”. He is an Ancient Kapampangan God which the town’s people honors by street dancing which is actually one of the main highlights or the main activities during the 7th day event period.

It is not just a simple street dancing but the participants come from different schools and barangays to showcase their own Kapampangan culture. The costume features large crowns, headdresses, ornaments, bright and vibrant colors of clothing, and more. The music would also amaze you as Kapampangans can really make use of different native musical instruments to create different tribal music and rhythm.

As time moves forward, the festival serves many purposes of why it is being held. Before it was just to honor the great King Sinukwan but recent holdings have proved that it actually unifies different sectors of the community. It allows people to interact and bond with other people in the city as well as help business, private, and government sectors to help and improve the livelihood of the City itself.

This festival, along with other festivals in the city such as the Giant Lantern Festival, also attracts tourists from different places in the Philippines including some foreigners. It helps improve the tourism of the city which people with businesses can actually benefit from by selling souvenirs, conducting photo shoots, food during the food festival, and more.

The food festival is just like other festivals in other places in the Philippines. It’s a part of the culture where each festival celebrated. The locals would hold a food festival where people can enjoy food, drinks, and some fun watching different activities being held in various places in the City.