Strengthening the Devotion Through Dancing with Passion: The Sugat Kabanhawan Festival of Minglanilla, Cebu, Philippines

The festival's presence had a significant impact on the social and cultural dimensions of the local communities. The sociocultural aspects of the Sugat Kabanhawan festival in the municipality of Minglanilla, Cebu, the Philippines, were explored in this classical ethnographic qualitative study. The chosen ten prospected Minglanillahanons from the performing arts, government, tourism, and education sectors all took part. The data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed using Braun & Clark's thematic analysis. Five themes generated in the study namely Sense of Pride and Gratitude, Life and Identity, Community Involvement, Appreciation of Religious Celebration and Artistry, Impact to Tourism and Economy, and Raising Awareness. It is concluded that with the presence of the festival, people learned to cherish their arts and to share them with others as a result of the festival's existence. In turn, this gives them many opportunities, especially in the fields of religion, education, livelihood and tourism. With that, the annual Sugat Kabanhawan event should keep ingraining in the Minglanillahanons' minds the reason of celebration and how the belief of Minglanillahanons were giving life through movements. Additionally, the Sugat Kabanhawan celebration ought to be incorporated into educational programs and even into the instruction of different dance performers.