The Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City will be a little bit brighter this year with the staging of the first-ever Dinagyang ILOmination Showdown tribes competition on the evening of January 21. The event, organized by the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc., will see seven tribes representing the city's seven districts compete in illuminated costume performances at three different locations: Atria Park District, SM City Iloilo, and the Iloilo Business Park/Megaworld.
According to Joyce Clavecillas, executive director of the foundation, the competition will showcase the city's progress in the Mandurriao area. "For the first time, our three major townships are coming together to support and help this tribes competition. One reason why we put them there is to showcase the progress of Iloilo City in that area," she said.
The participating tribes are City Proper, Lapuz, La Paz, Molo, Jaro, Mandurriao, and Arevalo. They will be donning illuminated costumes and will incorporate the image of the Holy Child, Señor Santo Niño, into their performances. The ILOmination Showdown will be held in the evening to convey the idea that "there is light after darkness," according to Clavecillas. "After being in the dark due to the pandemic, we want to emphasize that there is always light, there is always hope. Light is being symbolized by Señor Santo Niño," she said.
The ILOmination Showdown will be held alongside a parade of illuminated corporate floats and will coincide with the Religious SadSad (merry-making) at the San Jose Parish in Plaza Libertad. The events will be spread out across various venues in the city to give people options and to spread out the crowd, as the festival is expected to attract thousands of tourists and spectators. The Dinagyang Festival will take place from January 20-22.