Have you ever been to any religious, cultural and major street dancing festival? Well I finally have, right in my own amazing country: the Philippines! š š š
After all these years of being alive and living in Luzon island, I have finally been able to see one of the best and famous festivals in Visayas. I often wonder why no one in my immediate family have even bothered to go or think of going to such festivals. It's a waste not to go. Even foreigners have seen it several times, why not me too?! It's my country so I should at least have seen several at least once in my life!
And so when I couldn't decide where to travel last month, I decided to go local. Sure enough I found out I was just in time for the Dinagyang Festival. Oh yeah! That's how I was finally able to see this large scale colorful dance spectacle. š
If you've read my first travel blog on this amazing week-long event then what you'll read here is what happened next. š Let me tell you all about it.
First, the basic event recap as stated in my event overview post:
- Jan. 24, 2020 Friday, Day 1: Floats Parade of Lights & Fireworks Display
- Jan. 25, 2020 Saturday, Day 2: Dagyang sa Calle Real
- Day 2: Lighting Ceremony & Religious Sadsad
- Jan. 26, 2020 Sunday, Day 3: Dinagyang 360Ā°
Are you excited to see the photos? Oh I'll do you one better, I have a video compilation of each performance during the morning street dances. Uhm, okay not exactly every one of them as I got hungry so I had to eat. Man, I was so underprepared. š
Also let's get these out of the way before anything else:
- What is Dinagyang Festival?
- How did I get to Iloilo City?
- How long was my travel time and how much did it cost?
- What happened on my first day of Dinagyang Festival?
Read them already? Well let's get on with Dagyang sa Calle Real event details shall we.
Good Morning Iloilo City!
So after the revelry of the Floats Parade of Lights the night before, I stayed up late just to post everything I could on social media. Awww shucks. š I was such a tourist. Haha.
Of course because of that I slept late and was only able to sleep for... checks video compilation time Omg I slept for maybe 3 to 4 hours!? š The final vid was done around past 4 am! Then I remember I uploaded it on YouTube afterwards. Man, I was too excited being in a new place and seeing new things. Haha. And too excited to share them immediately too.
I forced myself to wake up at 8 am so I could go to Dagyang sa Calle Real. Oh it's really hard to wake up in the morning since I'm a night owl. š
No wonder I wasn't really feeling good the whole day. Oh boy.
Dragged Myself to Calle Real
Surely you know, I was not feeling so fine to go and watch something because I lacked sleep. I could hear faint drum beats in the distance while I tried to get out of bed. Who wouldn't want to sleep in until lunch time, right? The bed was so inviting... Ah but still after freshening up and getting dressed, I went out into the world with my trusty smartphone on a small vlogger-type tripod.
Might as well get on with it because that's what I was there in Iloilo for. People were there to watch Dinagyang Festival events and I would document whatever I could! Hah!
So of course once I got out of the building I opened my data connection and voila! Sun Cellular had no data signal! WTF?! Seriously? Could my morning get any worse? Hahaha. Good thing I had taken a screenshot of the Google Map route going to Calle Real otherwise I would be so lost indeed. I think I deleted the screenshot though, can't find it on my phone now. (Had to delete some photos so I could save the other video compilations.) Or maybe I never had any?
Anyway I didn't get lost because I just followed the trail of people walking towards somewhere. Eventually I found the street where it would happen and look, Iloilo City's Filipino Chinese friendship arc!
Yes there is a Chinatown in the city of Iloilo too folks. Would you look at that. And hey there's something else across it, something really big too...
Say hello to the giant figure of the Sto. Nino!
Not sure why they decided to make a huge one but okay, it's good for Instagram. Also I didn't realize the mayor was there too and just quickly took a random photo since people were taking a picture and I was hearing the word, "mayor" being mentioned.
I could also hear the drum beats and some music... there goes my opportunity to eat breakfast. I tried finding some place to eat along the way but I didn't see anything easy or fast to eat. Huhu. The parade was starting, I was hungry and I lacked sleep so how was I even functioning at the time? Eeek.
This all sounds pathetic but keep reading. I haven't even gotten to the best part of the event yet! š It's just getting started.
Welcome to Dagyang sa Calle Real!
I got to J.M. Basa Street (official name of Calle Real) before 9 am. There were already plenty of people milling around waiting for the parade to start. Of course there were also military and police all over the place for crowd control.
I'm not sure if I was just in time or not but as mentioned I even saw the mayor having a photo op at the giant Sto. Nino. (Wasn't able to take a good photo by the time I realized who he was.) That should mean it was just getting started, right? š
And then I see a marching band move closer and then start playing. Oh yeah I guess I made it to the start of the event? Haha.
Check out the shots I took! Even if my phone was overheating under the hot sun and weather I was still able to take some photos of my first time in Dinagyang Festival. Oh yeah.
Look at how colorful or elaborate the costumes are. So amazing to watch them dance and still smile despite the heat. It takes a lot of energy to perform so I really admire them for doing this every year. I mean I guess they're used to it by now since apparently they start out real young.
If you saw the elementary and high school students competing like I did (the next day) then you'll somehow realize this is already part of their way of life. Of course at the end of the festival, there's a big prize money for the winners.
Find out what happened at the Dagyang sa Calle Real in my video compilation below! Watch 'til the end and let us know what you think about it. š
When the parade was finished well of course the crowd dispersed all over the place. That's when I noticed how much Calle Real reminded me of other streets I've seen. It's like a mix of Vigan City in Ilocos Sur and Divisoria in Manila. I mean, look at the buildings. ā¤
Ah it felt like I didn't even leave Metro Manila. Haha. You could say I was feeling quite at home in a place I've never been to before. And so off I went back to the "dorm" I was staying. It was almost lunch so I also passed by the local mall.
Since it was almost Lunar New year too of course I saw some Chinese Zodiac predictions like these...
Reading it now I don't think anyone would have known how dreadful this year would be due to the COVID-19 virus. I mean, I saw a different Zodiac prediction when I got back to Metro Manila. (Those said all the good things we wanted to read. Everything was positive like it's going to be a great year and such. Oh well.)
Aside from that, because I was too caught up with the parade, I even forgot to take a picture of my custom made temporary tattoo against the figures of everyone dancing. š
Man that was how mesmerizing the event was. š I only remembered to take a pic once the event was done. š
As for Dinagyang Festival, hey it's far from over! This post is only about what happened in the morning. Haha. Next up is the Lighting Ceremony and Religious Sadsad during late afternoon to evening.
Guess what happens during those events? š Find out in my next blog!
Finally been able to finish writing this travel blog. Haha. Thanks to the quarantine I've been able to upload videos that were eating up my phone memory! I should be able to write what happened next. Hehe.
So anyway what do you think about Dinagyang Festival so far? Have you been to any Philippine festival like it?
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