Parkmall leads Sinulog 2016

MANILA, Philippines – Parkmall joins the Sinulog Festival with Sugbo Fest which covers everything from a food festival called Kumbira. Among the highlights are the Lechon Festival today until Jan. 17 that features actual lechon-making, the St. Joseph and Sto. Niño Exhibit from Jan. 23 to 30 and entertainment extravaganzas until Jan. 31.

Sugbo Fest’s entertainment package includes Aerodance Tribal Beat Sinulog Party, a Sinulog-inspired Aerodance party organized by Parkmall Aerodance instructor Jo Teria, Festival Queen Sinulog Parade, a two-hour parade of festival queens in Lyndon Alfomso’s festival gowns, a Dance Jam Marathon organized by Cebu’s best Dance Jam instructors and the musical treat Tukar Sugbo.

Most anticipated is Tukar Sugbo tomorrow, Jan. 16, which promises to be a night of non-stop Bisaya Rock (Bisrock) music. Some of Bisrock’s brightest names are sure to delight tourists with rock and alternative musical pieces in the Cebuano language.

Cebuano rock groups like Phylum, Agipo and others will entertain audiences with songs on socio-political issues, humor and romance. The show aims to make listeners realize how much Bisrock has developed through the years. Bisrock is a music movement that started in the ‘80s and experienced a resurgence in the early 2000s. A subgenre of Pinoy rock as propagated by the Cebu rock music industry, Bisrock had to fight its way through setbacks such as the fact that some local radio stations still favored Cebuano artists singing in Tagalog and English over true-blue Bisrock performers.

Like Parkmall which started as a retail industry investment in what used to be a reclamation area in Mandaue City, Bisrock persevered and worked its way to be heard. The efforts have paid off with the revival of Bisrock that has led to the creation of groups of solid supporters not just from Cebu but also from other parts of Visayas and Mindanao, and the proliferation of online chat channels and websites championing the cause of Bisrock.

Two of Bisrock’s frontrunners are Phylum, an all-male alternative band whose Palagot sa Kontra is a perennial favorite among Bisrock aficionados, and Agipo whose song Tamsi was an instant hit.