Sinulog Festival

This year's search for the Sinulog Festival Queen features beauty title holders, two Pasigarbo sa Sugbu festival winners and 15 other young women.

The contests selects the most graceful and lovely lead dancer of a Sinulog dance contingent.

“We are bringing this year's competition to a higher level especially because delegation heads and candidate handlers are more prepared this time,” said organizer Vince Escario.

This is the fourth year of the contest since it started 2006.

As of noon yesterday, 18 candidates have signed up. Final presentation is at 8 p.m. tonight at the Cebu City Sports Center.

Two more late entries from Lanao del Norte and Siargao were expected last night.

Six candidates are lead dancers from out-of-town contingents in the Sinulog grand parade.

Queency Ruth Bernales won second runner-up in the Mutya ng Pilipinas search in December 2008. A part-time model, she is the lead dancer for the “Tribu Manunuyod” of the Florencio Urot Memorial National High School. She is born to a Jamaican father and a Filipina mother.

Mae Timtim of the Siloy festival of Alcoy town and Carmel Andrade of Santander town’s Tostado festival are vying for the title. Timtim was crowned festival queen of the Cebu-wide Pasigarbo sa Sugbu on August 2008. Andrade finished as second runner-up in the same contest.

Escario said contest guidelines are “silent” about candidates winning prior beauty titles.

“Besides the festival queen search is not a beauty pageant. This is a totally different discipline,” he told .

Contest guidelines require each candidate to be the lead dancer of her contingent and must participate in the street and grandstand performances during Sunday's grand parade.

She must be single and between 14 to 24 years old.

Unwed mothers are prohibited from joining the competition.

Candidates have to wear the same costume she would be wearing during the Jan. 18 grand parade.

In tonight's opening, candidates will be dancing with the Karanza performing arts group and the University of Cebu dance company.

Candidates will say a few words to promote the school or locality she represents and then present a three-minute production number with her back-up dancers and instrumentalists. Then she performs solo.

Candidates will be rated based on the opening production number – 25 points, group production presentation – 50 percent and solo performance – 25 percent.

“The Sinulog festival queen search committee reserves the right to forfeit winners or strip them of their titles for any justifiable cause based on the given guidelines and on accepted standards of law, morality and decency,” as stated in the contest guidelines, copies of which were furnished to the different candidates after they filled up the contest information form.

Prizes are bigger this year. Aside from cash prizes winners will also receive two flat screen television units and jewelry sets from sponsors.