| Dinagyang Festival | |
|---|---|
 An Ati Warrior in Dinagyang Festival | |
| Official name | Iloilo Dinagyang Festival |
| Also called | Dinagyang |
| Observed by | Iloilo City |
| Type | Religious / Cultural |
| Date | Fourth Sunday in January |
| 2023 date | January 22 |
| 2024 date | January 28 |
| 2025 date | January 26 |
| 2026 date | January 25 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| First time | 1968 |
The Dinagyang Festival is a religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City, Philippines, held annually on the fourth Sunday of January in honor of Santo Niño, the Holy Child. It is one of the largest festivals in the Philippines, drawing hundreds of thousands to over a million visitors every year.[1][2]
The festival is well-known for its Ati Tribes Competition, featuring various tribu or tribe performers in Ati warrior costumes, presenting traditional choreographed formations, patterns, and rhythmic chanting to the beat of loud drums and improvised percussion instruments, that narrate different iterations of the history of Panay. Another highlight is the Kasadyahan Festival, where different cultural festivals from various places in Western Visayas come together to compete.
As the most awarded festival in the country and having been named the best tourism event by the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines (ATOP) for many years, the festival is often hailed as the "Queen of All Philippine Festivals."[3]
- ^ Sornito, Ime (January 30, 2019). "Dinagyang 2019 'attracted most number of foreign tourists'". Panay News. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
- ^ Jr, Nestor P. Burgos (January 22, 2012). "1.2M tourists join Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo, say local execs". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
- ^ "Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City - TAYO.ph - Life Portal of the Philippines PH". tayo.ph. Retrieved April 21, 2022.