During the fourth weekend of January, Dinagyang festival is celebrated in order to give tribute to the Christianization of the natives and show respect to Sto. Niño (Holy Child Jesus). It is a three-day event, the highlight of which is the 3rd day, the Ati-ati contest. It is a colorful parade of costumes staging the Sto. Niño as the object of offerings and prayers. “Viva Señor Sto. Niño” is heard amidst the beating of the drums during the competition. This is an evidence of the Ilonggos’ great devotion to the child Jesus who is believed to be miraculous during famine and drought.
Dinagyang is not just any cultural event that wowed the whole country and the world, it is also considered as a religious evangelization.
Dinagyang comes from the Hiligaynon (TRIVIA: we call the people ILONGGO and the dialect is HILIGAYNON) word dagyang meaning make happy. The festival was formerly called Ati-atihan similar of the festival in Kalibo. According to history, it started when a replica of the image of Señor Sto. Niño was brought from Cebu to Iloilo (San Jose Parish in Libertad). From then on, Ilonggos became devotees and proclaimed the 4th Sunday of January as His feast day since year 1968. The annual celebration is concluded by a nine-day Novena, an Ati-Ati contest and a fluvial procession on the last day.
It was the late Pacifico Sumagpao Sudario, a radio broadcaster who first used to name the festival when it commenced in 1977, to differentiate it from Kalibo’s Ati-Atihan.
The image of Sto. Niño is placed on a decorative boat in a fluvial procession early in the morning. It starts from the mouth of the Iloilo River at Fort San Pedro to the Iloilo Provincial Capitol found on the bank of the Iloilo River. The image is met by the Hermano-Hermana mayor devotees as well as the contesting tribes. The procession ends at San Jose Church where a high mass is celebrated. Opening ceremonies and contest proper follows shortly after the mass.
Dinagyang proved to be one of the best festivals in the country when it won Best Festival for a couple of years in a row.
Every year, tourist swarms the city to see Iloilo’s Finest and the Nation’s best: Dinagyang Festival.
January 19-23, 2011
2:00 P.M.-12 MN Iloilo Hotel Resort & Restaurant Association (IHRRA) Food Festival Delgado St., Iloilo City
January 21, 2011, Friday
8:00:00 AM TAMBOR TRUMPA MARTSA MUSIKA Freedom Grandstand
7:00 PM LUCES IN THE SKY Part II
January 22, 2011, Saturday
7:00:00 AM Mass for Kasadyahan San Jose Parish Church
8:00 A.M. 2011 KASADYAHAN Competition Freedom Grandstand and other stages
2:00PM SPONSORS MARDI GRAS Judging Area #4 to Freedom Grandstand
January 23, 2011, Sunday
6:30 a.m Concelebrated high mass for devotees, Tribes, Gov’t. Officials, LOMAS in attendance San Jose Parish Church
8:00 A.M. 2011 Dinagyang Ati CONTEST Freedom Grandstand and other stages
7:00 P.M. Awarding Ceremonies Freedom Grandstand
January 24, 2011, Monday
5:30 P.M. Thanksgiving Mass with all members of 2010 Iloilo Dinagyang Festival Working Committees
