It seems that people in Iloilo City have not slept throughout the month of January from all the preparations for the Dinagyang 2004 Festival, which took place over this weekend.

All day and all night long you could hear distant drumbeats pounding away the performance music, and from various directions at that. Multiple competing groups, more commonly known as tribes, have been putting in last-minute preparations and rehearsals for their big moments on the January 25th and 26th competitions.

Each of the tribes rendered their timed performances in five judging areas scattered throughout the Iloilo City proper. This is a very taxing experience. A tribe member has to contend with the sweltering heat, the overflowing crowd, lots of rowdy spectators, weird costumes and body paint, and the sheer physical exertion from the actual seven-minute performance repeated five times.

Kasadyahan, the first phase of the big annual Dinagyang weekend, wrapped up at around half past one in the afternoon yesterday. The groups represented various schools from all over the province of Iloilo.

The Kasadyahan 2004 Winners
Best in Float: Kahilwayan
Best in Music: Kahilwayan
Best in Costume: Kahilwayan
Best in Choreography: Kahilwayan
Best in Performance: Kahilwayan
Third Place: Aguilawan (University of San Agustin)
Second Place: Maragtas (West Visayas State University)
First Place: Kahilwayan (Sta. Barbara National High School)

The Ati-Atihan tribes competition of Dinagyang 2004 concluded at two in the afternoon today. Energetic performances were rendered by a total of 24 contesting groups in all five judging areas placed throughout Iloilo City. There were two categories: the Barangay and Open levels.

The Barangay level had 17 out of the 24 participating tribes. Under this category, the Iloilo City government will provide a subsidy for the top ten winning tribes’ expenses and such.

The following is a list of the Barangay Category contestants, according to performer number:
1. Himala
2. Kongo
3. Dagyaw-ta
4. Miluvi
5. Lakandon
6. Hamili
7. Halimau
8. Atub-Atub
9. Molave
10. Kalubihan
11. Angola
12. Parianon
13. Badyao
14. Pana-ad
15. Aninipay
16. Bantu
17. Pag-asa

Atub-Atub, the defending champion for the past few years, performed amazingly well this year, too. Providing the closest challenge to Atub-Atub was Parianon.

My personal favorite, though, was Aninipay because of their upbeat, unique musical arrangement and tunes.

On to the Open Category. This level allows the participants to solicit from sponsors. Malls and big manufacturing firms provided the money necessary for these tribes’ more grandiose and naturally more expensive numbers.

There were seven contestants in the Open level:
1. Salognon (Jaro National High School)
2. Sigabong (Ramon Avanceña National High School)
3. Jalaud of (Calinog National High School)
4. Paghidaet (La Paz National High School)
5. Pamilya Sagrada (Roxas Village, Iloilo City)
6. Bola-Bola (Iloilo National High School)
7. Irayanhon (Passi City National High School)

Bola-Bola, arguably the most popular tribe in Dinagyang history with performance records in the Americas, is still the overwhelming crowd favorite, despite their hiatus from competition last year.

The Dinagyang 2004 Barangay Category Winners
Best in Discipline: Atub-Atub
Best in Music: Atub-Atub
Best in Costume: Parianon
Best in Choreography: Atub-Atub
Best in Performance: Atub-Atub
Fifth Place: Pag-asa
Fourth Place: Pana-ad
Third Place: Molave
Second Place: Parianon
First Place: Atub-Atub

The Dinagyang 2004 Open Category Winners
Best in Discipline: Bola-Bola
Best in Music: Bola-Bola
Best in Costume: Jalaud
Best in Choreography: Bola-Bola
Best in Performance: Bola-Bola
Third Place: Paghidaet
Second Place: Jalaud
First Place: Bola-Bola

Last year’s Barangay Category champion was able to retain its title.

However, the Open Category‘s top tribe for the past two years, Paghidaet, slid down to third place. I suppose their trademark theme, fire, which had worked rather well for them before, was a bit too old for the judges this time around.

Congratulations to all the winners. Hala bira!

Lunch was grilled bangus (milkfish), a delectable dish swathed in a rich blend of soy sauce and calamansi. Our mealtime conversation veered towards the nuances of Oriental eating practices, particularly those of Filipinos.

Asians are seemingly more concerned with the steps associated in consuming food and drink. The Japanese have their hours-long, amazingly ritualistic tea ceremony. The Chinese have their 30-course lauriats, an experience so bloating that someone not used to it would end up swearing off Chinese fare for a month or even longer.

We Filipinos have our infamous fiestas, an excuse to show off cooking skills for the celebrators and to freeload food for majority of the feast-goers.

Filipinos likewise spend much of their time with food in mind: that would be including the time spent grocery-shopping and market-going, taking inventory of cupboard and refrigerator contents, preparing the food for consumption, spending hours in langorous meals, and, finally, cleaning up afterwards.

Perhaps Orientals are so sensual that the palate may be yet another mode of expression for such attribute.

A week has passed since I posted my own little coverage of Dinagyang 2002. I wish I could do it again on a similar event, for instance Binirayan of Antique, Maskara of Negros Occidental and Ati-Atihan of Kalibo.

It is such a rush when you have just made coherence of all the facts you have gathered and you must put them into writing right away. Then it is off to broadcast or, in Net-speak, posting.

I used to work for a radio station as an anchor and I have to say there is nothing like the feeling of hearing your own voice (or reading your own words) being rendered to the public. A mixed feeling of anxiety and exhilaration.

Here are a few Dinagyang-related links to anyone who is interested in finding out more: one, two, three, four and five.

What an uncreative way to label links! Shame, shame. At least I have them targeted to open in new windows.

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (The Lady of Candles), the Patron Saint of Jaro, Iloilo City. This is arguably the biggest, busiest fiesta of the year in the city.

If February 2 falls on a weekday, most schools no longer hold classes as traffic could be hell to contend with due to so many people traveling to and from Jaro.

As it is Saturday this year, I am very sure that it would even be busier as there really are no classes and work for most.

Surprises abound as the winners for both Kasadyahan and Ati-Atihan tribes competition of Dinagyang 2002 were announced at the Iloilo City Freedom Grandstand at 7 PM tonight.

The Kasadyahan 2002 Winners
Best in Float: Uruyan Binirayan
Best in Music: Tambo
Best in Costume: Kahilwayan
Best in Choreography: Kahilwayan
Best in Performance: Kahilwayan
Third Place: Uruyan Binirayan
Second Place: Tambo
First Place: Kahilwayan

The Dinagyang 2002 Barangay Category Winners
Best in Music: Parianon
Best in Costume: Molave
Best in Choreography: Atub-Atub
Best in Performance: Molave
Best in Discipline: Atub-Atub
Third Place: Parianon
Second Place: Atub-Atub
First Place: Molave

The Dinagyang 2002 Barangay Category Winners
Best in Music: Bola-Bola
Best in Costume: Paghidaet
Best in Choreography: Paghidaet
Best in Performance: Lunok and Bola-Bola (tie)
Best in Discipline: Paghidaet
Third Place: Bola-Bola
Second Place: Lunok
First Place: Paghidaet

Last year’s champions in both Barangay and Open categories in Dinagyang were not able to retain their titles. Atub-Atub slid down to second place in the Barangay level while Bola-Bola went down two notches from its, previously dubbed as “infallible”, former top position.

Bola-Bola‘s stunning loss was due to a boo-boo in the second performance area where they were laughed at and booed by the crowd due to surprising errors. Their choreography was not able to fit well into the narrow space so whatever adjustments they made were not able to compensate. Their mistakes proceeded to demoralize them.

Lunok and Paghidaet tribes had equal scores from the five judging areas, based on the following criteria:
Music: 25%
Performance: 25%
Costume: 25%
Choreography: 25%

However, when the scores from the roving judges came in, it turned out that Paghidaet was tops in discipline (see that they won the award for such) so they proceeded to win the Dinagyang 2002 Open Category plum.

This is the first time that Dinagyang festival was overseen by the private sector. In previous years, the event was managed by the Iloilo City government, normally with a Dinagyang Committee headed by a certain city councilor. This year, the festival was delegated to the Dinagyang Foundation under the leadership of Atty. Nene Consing.

In several of his speeches during the course of the festival, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said that the new Dinagyang system was one of the early steps his administration was taking in its bid to make the city the next “Shining Star” of the Philippines.

The Ati-Atihan-style tribes competition of Dinagyang 2002 concluded at one in the afternoon today. Energetic performances were rendered by a total of 17 contesting groups in all five judging areas placed throughout Iloilo City. There were two categories: the Barangay and Open levels.

The Barangay level has 12 out of the 17 participating tribes under it. Under this category, the Iloilo City government provides a subsidy for the tribe’s expenses and such. The following is a list of the Barangay Category contestants, according to performer number:

1. Atub-Atub
2. Miluvi
3. Kongo (of the sexy red G-strings)
4. Aninipay
5. Badyao
6. Hamili
7. Lakandon
8. Halimau
9. Himala
10. Parianon
11. Angola
12. Molave

Atub-Atub, the defending champion, performed amazingly well this year, too. We can probably expect another championship from them, but the downside was that their costumes were so similar to those of Bola-Bola last year.

Providing the closest challenge to Atub-Atub is Parianon, a pleasant surprise entry. Their performance this year is very, very different from the rather mediocre one in Dinagyang 2001. They had tremendous energy.

Himala had fantastic costumes and music, which provided a classic 1980s feel to their performance, but the choreography left a lot to be desired.

The darling of the crowd, however, was Molave, which incorporated elements of the Eat Bulaga! (a noontime television variety show) Sex Bomb dancers, they of the shrill chanting and shrieks, into their routine. The male warriors, of course, shrieked and danced sexy as well.

On to the Open category. This level allows the participants to solicit from sponsors. Malls and big manufacturing firms provided the money necessary for these tribes’ more grandiose and naturally more expensive numbers. There were five contestants in the Open level:

1. Uruyan Binirayan, from the province of Antique
2. Lunok, Iloilo City National High School
3. Pana-ad
4. Paghidaet, La Paz National High School
5. Bola-Bola, Iloilo National High School (Provincial)

Bola-Bola, the level’s defending champion and arguably the most popular tribe in Dinagyang history with performance records in the Americas, introduced yet another innovation: The warriors/dancers used sakuting sticks to complement the drumbeats. It still is the overwhelming crowd favorite, despite their strange, abrupt, poorly-choreographed exits from the performance areas.

Lunok, which has a controversial history for protesting Bola-Bola‘s Dinagyang 2000 victory, rendered a high-octane, non-stop, amazingly synchronized number that could very well give Bola-Bola a run for the trophy.

Results of both Dinagyang and Kasadyahan competitions will be announced tonight.

Kasadyahan, the first phase of the big annual Dinagyang weekend in Iloilo City, wrapped up at around 12 noon today with the completion of the performances of seven competing groups.

These groups represented various schools from all over the province of Iloilo and even from the province of Antique.

The seven tribes are (according to contestant #):
1. Tribu Tambo, Maasin National High School
2. Tribu Busilak, Jalandoni Memorial National High School
3. Tribu Mandurriaonon, Mandurriao National High School
4. Tribu Kahilwayan, Sta. Barbara National High School
5. Uruyan Binirayan, from Province of Antique
6. Tribu Ogtonganon, Oton National High School
7. Tribu Paghidaet, La Paz National High School

Binirayan was the best, with spontaneous transition from scene to scene and infectious drumbeats as well as clear, appropriate “canned” music when used. They used the theme of planting rice, incorporating old cultural beliefs and more modern farming approaches.

Kahilwayan was very good as to their choice of theme, very patriotic, but the music was so-so. Their performance tunes were not clear and likewise derived from the musical scores of popular movies such as The Mask of Zorro.

Was up very early and went online right away to read tickers, newspaper sites and random fanfics. I watched out for Virtua Fighter anime reruns on GMA-7 but all I got was a coverage of the Ati-Atihan Festival ongoing in the province of Antique.

It is also the town fiesta (feast) of my home for almost 11 years, Villa de Arevalo. In the Philippines, these feasts are held to celebrate the Day of the town’s respective Patron Saint. For Arevalo, it is Santo Niño.

Last Friday, I intentionally took the Oton jeepney route and got off at the plaza so I could pass by the traditional perya (fair) that is set up whenever the feast rolls around. The fair had the usual games and rickety Ferris Wheel, plus some cottage industry and accessory stands, not to mention the kiosks that serve beer, barbecue and seafood.

Next weekend it will be the Kasadyahan and Dinagyang, on Saturday and Sunday respectively, right here in Iloilo City. These count as among the Philippines’ most watched and expensive cultural events.

These festivals are held as tribute to Señor Santo Niño. Kasadyahan is a contest in presenting the best cultural/historical-themed production number, while Dinagyang is a rowdier face-off that involves painting the bodies of your performers (referred to as “warriors”) black to look like those of Aetas and making them dance to drumbeats.

Lots of people from other countries go here just to watch Kasadyahan and Dinagyang. These events are colorful, wild, creative, fun, highly competitive – the list of adjectives goes on and on.