Dinagyang
The Dinagyang Festival is a famous religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City, Philippines, held annually on the 4th Sunday of January, or right after the Sinulog in Cebu and the Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan. Dinagyang is one of the biggest and world-class festivals in the Philippines, attracting more than a million domestic and international visitors every year. The festival is the only one in the Philippines that has been awarded by the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines (ATOP) as the best tourism event for three consecutive years in 2006, 2007, and 2008. It  is also the most awarded festival in the country with both national and international awards because of its legacy, popularity, and innovation. Dinagyang receives an honor and is regarded as a world-class festival and is dubbed as the "Queen of All Philippine Festivals." Etymology. The word "Dinagyang" came from a Hiligaynon word extrapolated from "dágyang," meaning “merrymaking.” The festival hosts a celebration of the Santo Niño (Holy Child or Infant Jesus) and the pact between the Datus and the locals after the arrival of Malay settlers and the legendary barter of Panay Island from the natives called Ati. History . Dinagyang began after Rev. Fr. Ambrosio Galindez, the first Filipino Rector of the Augustinian Community and Parish Priest of the San Jose Parish introduced the devotion to Santo Niño in November 1967 after observing the Ati-Atihan Festival in the province of Aklan. On 1968, a replica of the original image of the Santo Niño de Cebu was brought to Iloilo by Fr. Sulpicio Enderez. In the beginning, the observance of the feast was confined to the parish. The Confradia patterned the celebration on the Ati-atihan of Ibajay, Aklan, where natives dance in the streets, their bodies covered with  soot and ashes, to simulate the Atis dancing to celebrate the sale of Panay. It was these tribal groups who were the prototype of the present festival. In 1977, the Marcos government ordered the various regions of the Philippines to come up with festivals or celebrations that could boost tourism and development. The City of Iloilo readily identified the Iloilo Ati-Atihan as its project. At the same time the local parish could no longer handle the growing challenges of the festival. Dinagyang was voted as the best tourism event for 2006, 2007 and 2008 by the Association of Tourism  Officers in the Philippines Inc. (ATOP). It is one of few festivals in the world to get the support of the United Nations for the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals, and cited by the Asian Development Bank as Best Practice on government, private sector & NGO cooperatives. Recently, the ATOP once again declared the 2021 Dinagyang Digital as the Grand Winner of its Pearl Awards. Celebration. The Dinagyang Festival is divided into three major events held annually every fourth weekend of January: Ati Tribe Competition (held on a Sunday), Dagyang sa Calle Real (held on a Saturday prior to the  main event the next day, the Ati Tribe competition) and the Miss Iloilo Dinagyang (which is held on the week of the main Dinagyang Festival highlights). As an added attraction to the Ati Tribe competition, the Kasadyahan Cultural competition was added in the festival from the 1980s to 2019 to showcase the talents of the students as well as the rich cultural heritage of the province of Iloilo. In the first few years of this event, schools from various towns and cities in the province participates in this competition but in recent times, the cultural competition confined only in the  province became a regional scope accepting entries from other provinces of the region showcasing the best of Western Visayas cultural and historical heritage. The main part of the festival which is the Ati Tribe competition consists of a number of "warrior" dancers (who hold a shield in one hand and a spear in another) in a tribe (locally called "tribu") dancing in a choreographed formation and patterns as well as chanting to the sound of loud drum beats and improvised percussion instruments innovated by the respective tribes. In the early years, a number of tribes where created, founded and organized  by some of the barangay or communities around the city but through the years and as the Dinagyang evolves and the competition becomes competitive gaining worldwide fame and attention, schools are starting to create and organize tribes introducing dynamic new dance patterns, formations and choreography soliciting sponsors from private companies for expenses and cost of participating in the competition. No actual Ati are involved nor do they benefit in any way from this event. There are a number of requirements, including that the performers must paint their skin black and indigenous and other kinds of materials can be used for  the costumes. All dances are performed to drum music. Many tribes are organized by the local high schools and in recent times some tribes came from as far as Batanes in Luzon and Cotabato in Mindanao. The tribes receive a subsidiary from the Dinagyang Foundation Inc. and the city government of Iloilo and recruit private sponsors, with the best tribes receiving the most. The current Ati population of Iloilo is not involved with any of the tribes nor are they involved in the festival in any other way although recently the original Atis from the hinterlands of Panay specifically from  the mountains of Barotac Nuevo and Anilao came to participate non-competitively for recognition and giving them importance as being the characters symbolically portrayed in the festival. Dinagyang Legacy. Dinagyang festival has brought a lot of innovations throughout the years. These innovations has influenced the way other festivals in the country is run. Among these are the following: Dagoy. Dagoy is the official festival mascot of Dinagyang. He was born from the promotional sketches of Dinagyang in 2002. The caricature was later adopted as the official logo of the festival. He was introduced to the public on December 14, 2004  in The Fort, Taguig, and December 18, 2004 in Iloilo City. Depicted as a young Ati warrior, Dagoy symbolizes the jollification and friendship of the Ilonggo and the other thousands to millions of tourists flocked to witness the festival. Dagoy stands six feet and nine inches tall. He has a dark brown skin tone and wears a headdress with an image of Sto. Niño. He is garbed with a camel-colored loincloth which is the typical attire of an Ati. Dagoy is holding a drum made of fiberglass with the logo of the Iloilo City Government printed at the center . His hands and feet are adorned with multi-colored bracelets, similar to these being worn by a Dinagyang warrior. Dagoy's winsome smile is popular among children as such miniature version of the mascot is marketed as Dagoy Dolls. Dinagyang Tribes Competition Winners. The following list includes all the Ati Tribe Dance Competition winners every year.