Lomography

Dinagyang in Iloilo City
written by ethermoon on February 1st, 2009 , 7 comments (0 votes)

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What’s with the last Sunday of January in Iloilo? Eclipse showing only to the city? A civil war, perhaps? Well, most of the city folks will answer no, and probably won’t mind you about the question, but here, every last week of January - preferably last Sunday of the month, Dinagyang celebration is on the hype!

Dinagyang Festival is a unique celebration that is celebrated every January of the year. It re-enacts the giving of the Golden Salakot and the Christianity of the pagan country long before the Spaniards came. The usual banging of the drums, music and old instruments brings the uniqueness of this said festival.

People are clothed in different colors, face-painted their faces with black, butts showing here and there, and of course who would forget, the Santo Niño being raised up high as the core and center of the ritual activity while chanting “Viva Senior Santo Niño!”, the reason of this and for the festival.

Dinagyang nowadays is a contest for each competing tribe (composed of different High School campuses). This Dinagyang last Sunday, there were 20 tribes that competed for the award - each to its own choreography, sound, dance and style.

So always put it in your calendar, folks! January highlights the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City! A colorful festival en-tradition with the culture of the people here in Iloilo City!

Hala Bira Iloilo!