San Jose Parish: The home of the Dinagyang Festival
Posted on February 7, 2008
Every month of January, the people of Iloilo come into frenzy-mode as they excited await the celebration of the Dinagyang Festival. The annual Iloilo Dinagyang Festival is held every fourth Sunday of January in honor of the Santo Niño.
And with all the loud drumbeating and non stop dancing, the center of all these festivities is the San Jose Parish of Iloilo. The church of San Jose is located righ in front of Plaza Libertad, near the port area.
It is said the Dinagyang Festival started when an Agustinan priest brought a replica of the image of Santo Niño from Cebu. The said image was then enshrined at the San Jose parish. every year since then, people would go to the church yard and offer their prayer dances. Until the celebration grew big. People later on painted themselves in black to mimic the color of the original inhabitans of Panay: the Ati. The ritual that people made during this time is somewhat very similar to the ones being held in Ibajay and Kalibo in Aklan: the Ati-atihan. And to avoid confusion, the people of Iloilo named their festivities as the Ati-atihan of Iloilo. It was only during the 70’s when an Ilonggo named Pacifico Sudario suggested to rename the revelry to Dinagyang. Taken from the root word Dagyang, meaning to be merry, or merry-making.
Up until now, a part of the festivities of the Dinagyang is the bringing of a replica of Santo Niño from Cebu city which will then be paraded into the streets and in the Iloilo River.
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