Iloilo launches search for Miss Dinagyang 2019

ILOILO CITY -- Barely three months left before showcasing its Dinagyang Festival anew, the organizers on Tuesday launched the search for 2019 Miss Dinagyang, one of the major events of the annual celebration.

Ilonggo designer PJ Arañador, together with his team of local industry partners mostly with international experiences, was tapped to handle what he calls as the re-branded Miss Dinagyang.

“This time it is going to be a research and curatorial presentation. Because I think this is the best time for us to show our culture,” he said.

He said that they are expecting not less than 36 beauties to join the pageant. They look forward to the participation of festival queens from various local government units in Iloilo, beauty queens abroad and from different universities in Iloilo. “I want the Iloilo Miss Dinagyang to be open to the community,” he said.

For the first time, he revealed that there will be training for question and answer, social etiquette, modeling coaching, walking and grooming, among others.

Regine Espinosa, who will design the crown, said they will be “doing something old but new; current but not so old-looking.”

“The design encompasses the history of the city. The new crown will be better, more suitable to the new concept and the new brand of Iloilo Miss Dinagyang 2019,” she said.

Meantime, Ramon Cua Locsin, president of the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc., said the “beauty contest continues to be a platform for young women of Ilonggo descent to create an impact in promoting the ideals and values of Dinagyang, Iloilo City and its heritage”.

"We are impressed with his vision of bringing back the grandeur of our illustrious heritage, and we look forward to all of this being translated in the stage productions, in the candidates’ photo shoots and in the beautiful story of Iloilo,” he added.

The screening of interested candidates will be held Nov. 14-15, while the pageant and coronation night is initially set on January 25, 2019. (PNA)