Kasadyahan Festival

Kasadyahan Festival is one of the most anticipated events during the Dinagyang celebration. It is a competition among cultural festivals from different places in the Western Visayas region.

As an added attraction to the Ati Tribe competition, the Kasadyahan Cultural competition was added to the festival from the 1980s to 2019 to showcase the talents of the students as well as the rich cultural heritage of the province of Iloilo.^[9] In the first few years of this event, schools from various towns and cities in the province participated in this competition, but in recent times, the cultural competition confined only to the province has become a regional event, accepting entries from other provinces of the region, showcasing the best of Western Visayas cultural and historical heritage.

Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. (IFFI) announced that the Kasadyahan Festival would no longer be part of the Dinagyang Festival starting in 2020. It was replaced by merry making or the sadsad that has been the central feature of the Ati-Atihan Festival of Kalibo, Aklan. Meanwhile, the Kasadyahan Festival was said to be celebrated in a separate month or possibly incorporated into the celebration of Iloilo City’s Charter Day. However, these plans got canceled due to the pandemic.^[10] The Kasadyahan Regional Cultural Competition returned to Dinagyang in 2023 on Saturday preceding the main highlights of the mardi gras celebration the following day. In the last quarter of 2023, the Iloilo provincial government announced they will organized the Kasadyahan Festival and will name it Kasadyahan sa Kabanwahan which was launched on December 13, 2023, which will showcase different town festivals in Iloilo province competing for the title replacing the previous year's regional competition^[11].

ILOmination and Parade of Lights

Tribu Molo contingents during the ILOmination competition

ILOmination is an additional Dinagyang tribes competition where warriors wear colorfully lit costumes. First added in 2023, it showcases seven competing tribes representing the seven districts of Iloilo City, namely the City Proper, Arevalo, Jaro, La Paz, Lapuz, Mandurriao, and Molo.^[12] It is a parade-type street dance competition that allows spectators to witness every performance from the tribes.^[13] The Floats Parade of Lights is also featured during the event, where gigantic and colorful floats of the sponsors for the Dinagyang Festival are going by the parade. It was first added in the 2018 edition during the 50th anniversary of the Dinagyang Festival.^[14]

Ati Tribe Competition

Ati Warriors, wearing intense costumes during the Ati Tribe dance competition

The main highlight of the festival, which is the Ati Tribe competition held at Iloilo Freedom Grandstand, consists of a number of "warrior" dancers (who hold a shield in one hand and a spear in another) in a tribe (locally called "tribu") dancing in a choreographed formation and patterns as well as chanting to the sound of loud drum beats and improvised percussion instruments innovated by the respective tribes. In the early years, a number of tribes were created, founded and organized by some of the barangay or communities around the city, but through the years, as the Dinagyang evolves and the competition becomes more competitive, gaining worldwide fame and attention, schools are starting to create and organize tribes, introducing dynamic new dance patterns, formations and choreography, soliciting sponsors from private companies for expenses and the cost of participating in the competition.^[15]

No actual Ati are involved, nor do they benefit in any way from this event. There are a number of requirements, including that the performers must paint their skin black and be indigenous; other kinds of materials can be used for the costumes. All dances are performed to drum music. Many tribes are organized by the local high schools, and in recent times, some tribes came from as far as Batanes in Luzon and Cotabato in Mindanao. The tribes receive a subsidy from the IFFI and the city government of Iloilo^[16] and recruit private sponsors, with the best tribes receiving the most. The current Ati population of Iloilo is not involved with any of the tribes nor are they involved in the festival in any other way, although recently the original Atis from the hinterlands of Panay, specifically from the mountains of Barotac Nuevo and Anilao, came to participate non-competitively for recognition and to give them importance as being the characters symbolically portrayed in the festival.^[17]

Innovations

A Dinagyang trinket being sold on the streets during the festival

Dinagyang festival has brought a lot of innovations throughout the years. These innovations has influenced the way other festivals in the country is run. Among these are the following:

• Carousel Performance - Dinagyang initiated the simultaneous performance of the competing tribes in different judging areas.^[18]
• Mobile Risers - Mobile risers is prominent feature of Dinagyang choreography today. It was introduced by Tribu Bola-bola in 1994. The risers has added depth and has improved the choreography of the dance movements.^[19]
• Dinagyang Pipes - First used by Tribu Ilonganon in 2005, the Dinagyang pipes are made of PVC pipes and are hammered by rubber paddles. Each pipe produces a distinct sound depending on the length and diameter of each pipe.^[20]
• Dagoy - The official mascot of Dinagyang and the first festival mascot in the Philippines. He was born from the promotional sketches of Dinagyang in 2002. The caricature was later adopted as the official logo of the festival. He was introduced to the public on December 14, 2004 in The Fort, Taguig, and December 18, 2004 in Iloilo City. Depicted as a young Ati warrior, Dagoy symbolizes the jollification and friendship of the Ilonggo and the other thousands to millions of tourists flocked to witness the festival. Dagoy stands six feet and nine inches tall. He has a dark brown skin tone and wears a headdress with an image of Santo Niño. He is garbed with a camel-colored loincloth which is the typical attire of an Ati. Dagoy is holding a drum made of fiberglass with the logo of the Iloilo City Government printed at the center. His hands and feet are adorned with multi-colored bracelets, similar to these being worn by a Dinagyang warrior. Dagoy's winsome smile is popular among children as such miniature version of the mascot is marketed as Dagoy Dolls.^[21]
  

  Dagoy, the official festival mascot of Dinagyang

Recognitions and awards

Dinagyang is the most awarded festival in the Philippines. It has been recognized as the best tourism event by the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines (ATOP) for three consecutive years in 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2020, it received another ATOP's Best Tourism Event Award (as Contemporary/Non-Traditional Expression Category).^[22] Its Dinagyang Digital edition in 2021 has also won as the Grand Winner of ATOP's Pearl Awards and Best Tourism Practice during the Pandemic, which was the only award given by ATOP during that year. In 2022, it was declared as the grand winner of the Best Cultural Festival Award-City category.^[23]

It is one of few festivals in the world to get the support of the United Nations for the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals, and cited by the Asian Development Bank as Best Practice on government, private sector & NGO cooperatives.^[24]

Dinagyang also holds the record for the highest number of grand champions in Aliwan Fiesta, an annual “festival of festivals” competition showcasing diverse cultural festivals from across the Philippines.^[25]