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Pit Senior!
Dinagyang fever is on. This time “on higher ground.” This much awaited event during the fourth week of January is a thanksgiving for and a celebration in honor of Senior Santo Niño. History wise, this celebration also commemorates the arrival in Panay of Malay settlers and the subsequent selling of the island to them by the Aetas.
Based on my research, the celebration of Dinagyang began after Rev. Fr. Ambrosio Galindez introduced the devotion to Santo Niño in 1967. After a year, a replica of the original image of the Santo Niño de Cebu was brought to Iloilo by Fr. Sulpicio Enderez as a gift to the Parish of San Jose.
When the Confradia del Santo Niño de Cebu, Iloilo Chapter gave a fitting reception from the airport down to the streets of Iloilo City of the image upon its arrival, it was a good sign to finally celebrate it in a more festive way. Confradia this time patterned the celebration on the Ati-atihan of Ibajay, Aklan (my hometown), where natives dance in the streets, their bodies covered with soot and ashes, to simulate the Atis dancing to celebrate the sale of Panay. Actually, the festival was named Iloilo Ati-tihan before. Until such time Dinagyang was coined by an old-time Ilonggo writer and radio broadcaster, the late Pacifico Sumagpao Sudario, who first used the word to name the festival when it was launched in 1977.
The religious highlight of the Dinagyang is the fluvial procession along Iloilo River. The cultural highlights are the Kasadyahan and the Ati-atihan parades and competitions.
The fluvial procession is held on a Friday of the Dinagyang week. You'll witness devotees carrying images of the Child Jesus on board motorized bancas. The procession starts from the mouth of the river towards the pier area of Muelle Loney where the foot parade would start and then back to the San Jose Church.
Held on a Saturday, it is scheduled for the Kasadyahan, a cultural parade. The presentation is theatrical and in local color participated by various towns and their own festival. In other words, Kasadyahan showcases the different festivals of Iloilo.
The Ati-atihan street dancing competition on a Sunday is a big event. Today, the main part of the festival consists of a number of "tribes", called "tribus", who are supposed to be Ati tribe members dance to the drumbeat. The performers must paint their skin brown (which only started last year, they started painting their skin black way back). Eye-catching costumes made of indigenous materials make the street dancing more appealing both to the local and foreign audience.
Dinagyang made Iloilo City well-known not only here in our country but also in the entire world. People of different races flock in the city to witness and celebrate this grandiose event.
Dinagyang bested other Philippine festivals as it bagged best Tourism Event for 2006, 2007 and 2008 by the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines. Moreover, it was the first festival in the world to get the support of the United Nations for the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals.
Enjoy this much anticipated event of the year my dear readers. Let's be proud of our own festival. Mabuhay ang mga Ilonggos! Dagyang ta!