Dinagyang Festival - Iloilo

The Dinagyang Festival, a thanksgiving festival, is celebrated every fourth weekend of January, right after the Sinulog in Cebu, to commemorate the Christianization and the Holy Child Jesus, the Iloilo’s patron saint, and to celebrate the arrival on Malay settlers in Panay Island. It is a very colorful parade coupled with a dramatization in honor of the patron Señor Santo Niño as the object of dramatized offerings and prayers amidst the cracking of drums and shouts of "Viva Señor Santo Niño and “Hala Bira" by the tribe and contingent.

The religious highlight is the fluvial procession on Friday of the weeklong celebration and cultural highlights are the Kasadyahan and the Ati-atihan parades and competitions.

Dagoy, the dark brown skin tone, six-feet-nine-inches-tall official festival mascot of Dinagyang, was born from the promotional sketches of Dinagyang in 2002. He was introduced to the public in December 14, 2004 in The Fort, Taguig and December 18, 2004 in Iloilo City, and later on adopted as the official logo of the festival. Depicted as a young Aeta warrior, Dagoy symbolizes the jollification and friendship of Ilonggo’s and other thousands of tourists flocked to witness the festival.