Hala Bira! Dagyang Ta! :)
T he first Dinagyang Festival was held in 1968. The word “Dinagyang” was derived from the Hiligaynon word “dagyang,” which translates to “merrymaking” in English. It’s a broadly r epresentative word of the festival. I loilo’s Dinagyang Festival celebrates locals’ devotion to the Santo Niño, similar to Cebu’s Sinulog Festival . In addition, it also pays tribute to the arrival of the Malay settlers in the country, including the notable barter of Panay Island from natives called Ati. T he festival first took shape after Rev. Fr. Ambrosio Galindez, the first Filipino rector and parish priest of the San Jose Parish at the time, introduced devotion to Santo Niño to the Ilonggo community in 1967 after experiencing the Ati-Atihan Festival in Aklan. T h e following year, a replica of the i...
