EARLY PREPARATION. Church officials, the police, volunteers and a few devotees join the walkthrough for the 2024 Black Nazarene Traslacion procession starting at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on Saturday (Dec. 16, 2023). The Traslacion will resume after a three-year suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy of Quiapo Church Facebook)
MANILA – Organizers of the 2024 Feast of the Black Nazarene Traslacion (transfer) announced on Saturday that they would follow the route used during the 2020 grand procession.
The announcement was made after a walkthrough in the morning for the Jan. 9 traslacion, starting at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park and up to the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church in Quezon Boulevard.
“Ang ruta po ay katulad ng nakaraang year 2020 (the route will be the same as that of year 2020),” the Quiapo Church officials said in a brief statement.
The walkthrough, which lasted for over two and a half hours, was conducted to ensure the safety of thousands of devotees.
The procession will start from Quirino Grandstand, turn left to Katigbak Street; pass through Padre Burgos Street; and along Finance Road, and Palanca, Arlegui, Fraternal, Vergara, Duque de Alba, Castillejos, Farnecio, Nepomuceno, Concepcion Aguila, Carcer, Hidalgo, Bilibid Viejo, Gil Puyat, and J.P De Guzman Streets; under the Quezon Bridge; and Villalobos Street en route to Plaza Miranda right outside the church.
It would mark the first time the Traslacion will return to its old format after the celebration was suspended from 2021 to 2023 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year, Quiapo Church held a “Walk of Faith” sans the Traslacion and lured 1.2 million devotees over two days.
The last procession in 2020 had about three million participants joining the shorter Traslacion route that lasted 16 hours.
In 2018 and 2019, the police estimated an average crowd of four million, both lasting for nearly 24 hours. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
