EXPERIENTIAL DINAGYANG. Photo shows the performers of the 2019 Dinagyang Festival. Spectators will soon get a chance to feel the beat of Dinagyang as the organizer intends to come up with a merry-making or 'sadsad' instead of the Kasadyahan cultural competition. (PNA file photo by Perla G. Lena)
ILOILO CITY -- Instead of just being spectators, Dinagyang Festival 2020 revelers will have the feel of the festival beat by joining the proposed “sadsad” or merry-making.
“It will be more vibrant because Dinagyang will now be more experiential, there will be a twist, more people involvement,” executive assistant Salvador D. Sarabia Jr, the appointed director of the city government’s MICE center, said in an interview Thursday.
MICE stands for meetings, incentives, travel, conferences, conventions, exhibitions, and events.
He added that the revelry will be held on a Saturday, January 25, 2020, was already approved by Mayor Jerry P. Treñas.
In previous years, the morning of Saturday was for the Kasadyahan Regional Cultural Competition, where the best festivals from various parts of Western Visayas gathered for the half-day presentation.
“Kasadyahan may be placed on a lean month because it’s more cultural,” Treñas said.
The event is being eyed to be moved as part of the activities for the city’s Charter Day celebration held every August.
Sarabia said the Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. (IFFI), which will partner with the city government to handle the Dinagyang, suggested that the celebration will be joined by private companies, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders. They will also be forming their own tribes.
The street dancing will start at the Provincial Capitol and will end with a mass or any religious event at the Plaza Libertad.
Meanwhile, on the day of the competition of Ati tribes, Sarabia said they are still contemplating whether or not to have three of four performing areas.
He said participants have been complaining that they are tired as they have previously performed in five judging areas.
However, the performance at the Freedom Grandstand, which is facing the Iloilo River, will have a 360 degrees view.
The organizer intends to put barges on the river to accommodate more guests who will be watching the presentations.
In July this year, the IFFI held stakeholders' consultation, where they gathered feedback on how the public would like to see next year’s Dinagyang Festival. The 2020 Dinagyang is set on January 25-26. (PNA)
