All set for 2010 Dinagyang Festival

Beat the drums and make way for the 2010 Dinagyang Festival celebration!

The Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation Inc. (IDFI), tasked by city mayor Jerry P. Treñas to prepare the most acclaimed local festival of festivals in Western Visayas, will once again lay the ground works for the festival celebrated last weekend of January every year in honor of the city’s patron saint Senior Sto Niño.

Iloilo Dinagyang Festival

Dinagyang Tribes committee chair Dr. Jaime Manila said there will be a total of 16 Dinagyang tribes to vie for honors. Dr. Eden Deriada, chair of the Kasadyahan Tribes committee disclosed that there will be 9 groups to vie in the mardi gras contest.

IDFI chairman Lee Chuan admitted that although next year’s celebration will have a moderate budget but this will not sacrifice the quality of performance to showcase the best practices of Ilonggo culture and tradition.

Lee Chuan said he is turning 80 years old next year and is about time to transfer the leadership of leading the festival to a younger and dedicated volunteer. Chuan also added that next year’s Dinagyang festival will be a much grander celebration considering that it is also the last term of city mayor Jerry P. Treñas in providing city support to Dinagyang.

The city government is allotting P5 million as financial support to the festival in 2010. However, financial support from telecommunication and other companies may not be as big as of the previous year due to global financial crisis, Lee Chuan said.

IDFI President Ricardo Andrada said the 2010 celebration is a thanksgiving festival in acknowledging that Dinagyang is already in the Hall of Fame as the best tourism attraction in the country for three consecutive years.

The traditional “pamukaw” will be held on December 18 to jumpstart the Dinagyang fever. Expected to participate are the registered Dinagyang tribes namely Tribu Molave, Ilonganon, Aninipay, Atub-Atub, Pag-asa, Bantu, Salognon, Himal-us, Panagat, Paghidaet, Milagrosa, Silak, Bola-Bola, Pana-ad, Pan-ay and Angola.

On the other hand, nine Kasadyahan groups registered to participate with an open theme. Only one group from the city, the Mandurriao National High School will participate and the rest will come from the municipal contingents namely Tribu Pantat of the municipality of Zarraga, Tribu Tangyan of Igbaras, Tribu Tambubu of Ajuy, Tribu Tubong-Tubong of Tubungan, Tribu Pandayan of Badiangan, Tribu Tinuom of Cabatuan, Triby Kasag of Banate and Tribu Gimanban of New Lucena, all in the province of Iloilo.

By Lydia C. Pendon