‘IN SANTO NIÑO WE ARE ONE’: Fiesta Señor 2026 offers ‘more time for prayer and reflection’

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A DEEPER, more inclusive devotion awaits Cebuanos and pilgrims as the Fiesta Señor 2026 ushers in new traditions.

This includes a two-night Traslacion that will bring the image of the Santo Niño closer to devotees in Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities.

The 461st Fiesta Señor officially opens on January 8, 2026, with the Penitential Walk with Jesus, the dawn procession that signals the start of nine days of novena Masses leading up to the Feast of the Santo Niño on January 18.

Thousands of devotees are expected to join the 4 a.m. walk from Fuente Osmeña Circle to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu, where an opening Mass and short Sinulog dance will follow. Continuous novena Masses will then be held throughout the day, both onsite and livestreamed for devotees watching online.

In a landmark change, the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño confirmed that next year’s Traslacion, the annual transfer of the Holy Child’s image, will now stretch over two days.

After the Walk with Mary on January 15 (Thursday), the Santo Niño will stay overnight at the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City, before proceeding the next morning to the Nuestra Señora de Regla Shrine in Lapu-Lapu City for another overnight vigil.

The image will return to Cebu City the following day for the Fluvial Procession and fiesta culmination.

“This change allows more time for prayer and reflection, especially for devotees outside Cebu City,” said Fr. Jules Van Almerez, media liaison of the Fiesta Señor Secretariat. “In previous years, the Santo Niño could only stay for a few hours in each city. Now, both Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu can fully host the Child Jesus overnight.”

The move, he added, was made in consultation with the Augustinian friars of the Basilica and parish clusters across Metro Cebu.

Ahead of the novena, organizers will once again send pilgrim images of the Santo Niño to far-flung parishes, hospitals, and jails from late December 2025 to early January 2026.

The outreach will reach communities in Cebu City’s mountain barangays, Talisay, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu, continuing the Basilica’s effort to bring the Holy Child closer to devotees who cannot visit the Pilgrim Center.

The Traslacion, from the Spanish word trasladar (to transfer), reenacts the journey of the Holy Family—the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph. It symbolizes unity and faith among families and communities, and serves as the spiritual highlight of the pre-fiesta rites.

First held in 1988, the tradition also inspired Mandaue’s Panagtagbo sa Mandaue Festival, which honors the same sacred encounter.

This will be the first time in more than three decades that the Santo Niño’s image will stay overnight in both Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, giving devotees more opportunity to take part in vigils, processions, and acts of veneration.

Organizers also reiterated that the Fiesta Señor and the Sinulog Festival, though intertwined in spirit, remain distinct.

The Fiesta Señor covers the religious activities within the Basilica, while the Sinulog, managed by the Cebu City Government and Sinulog Foundation Inc., showcases Cebu’s cultural celebration through street dancing and performances.

The Sinulog dance, rooted in the pre-colonial sinug movements resembling flowing water, remains a heartfelt expression of faith, a “dance of veneration,” as festival founder David “Boy” Odilao Jr. once described it.

With the 2026 theme “In Santo Niño We Are One,” organizers hope the expanded Traslacion and renewed community participation will inspire a collective act of faith that transcends boundaries.

As preparations intensify, millions are once again expected to converge in Cebu in January, for a celebration that continues to define both the city’s faith and its identity.(TGP)