ELEVATED TO THE Hall of Fame by the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (Atop) in 2009 after winning the country?s best tourism event award for three consecutive years, Iloilo?s Dinagyang Festival is still expected to be a notch higher this year.

Organizers have announced major innovations for this year?s celebration culminating in the world-famous Ati-Atihan tribe contest on Jan. 24.

?Dinagyang has continued to evolve, grow and endure because of innovations each year,? Iloilo City tourism officer Ben Jimena said.

Jimena said that new events and contests had been incorporated to promote Ilonggo culture and spur more attraction to other events in Iloilo and on Panay Island.

The festival has become so popular that it has also drawn visitors to other destinations and attractions, he said.

Ilonggo arts festival

This year, organizers led by the Dinagyang Foundation and the city tourism office will launch the Ilonggo arts festival, which will also include contests in Hiligaynon cheerleading, choral-poetry in motion, Panay folk dances, choir and on-the-spot painting.

The search for the Little Miss Dinagyang and the Model Ati Warrior will be introduced.

A highly anticipated event is the ?Salvo of A Thousand Drums? on Jan. 22 when more than a thousand drummers of 16 Ati-Atihan tribes and 13 drum and bugle corps will simultaneously beat their drums and play other instruments in common rhythm.

On Jan. 23, the Kasadyahan cultural presentation kicks off with nine groups, all winners of town festivals from all over the province. Special performances from four dance groups and companies will be presented.

Sixteen tribes will join the Ati contest on Jan. 24. The number is down from last year?s 18, but Jimena said this was because of the imposition of more stringent standards to ensure the best performances.

The fireworks display contest, ?Luces in the Sky,? which was introduced three years ago, has increasingly become popular with at least 20 pyrotechnic makers nationwide expected to take part in the showdown on Jan. 22-23.

Jimena said hotel and restaurant owners would be preparing a grander food showcase of popular Ilonggo dishes.

?The festival keeps on growing and everyone is helping nurture it,? he said.

40 years of devotion

The festival, set every fourth week of January, is among the many held in Western Visayas to profess devotion to the Child Jesus Sto. Niño.

It traces its roots to 1968 when Fr. Sulpicio Enderes, OSA, with a delegation of the Cofradia de Cebu, brought a replica of the image of Señor Sto. Niño de Cebu to Iloilo City. The image was brought to San Jose Parish Church where it is enshrined until now.

A year after, the first parish feast of Señor Sto. Niño was celebrated. The champion and runner-up in the Kalibo Ati-Atihan contest performed in what was considered the first Ati-Atihan festival in Iloilo City.

The celebration of the feast, as decreed by the Catholic Church, is held every third Sunday of January. But in the case of the Iloilo festival, it is held every fourth Sunday of the month.

In 1970, the first Ati-Atihan contest of Iloilo was held at the Freedom Grandstand. The Majapahit Tribe of Compania Maritima won the contest.

Five years later, the running of the festival, which has become a big tourist attraction, was ceded to the city government because the Cofradia could no longer cope with the expanding activities.

So as not to duplicate Kalibo?s Ati-Atihan, organizers in 1977 changed the ?Ati-Atihan? to ?Dinagyang? from the Hiligaynon word ?dagyang? or merrymaking.

Gov?t-private sector

The festival has endured and grown through the years because of the successful networking and partnership between the local government and the private sector and among groups, Jimena said.

He cited the critical role of volunteers who work in various committees round-the-clock. This spirit of volunteerism has helped sustain the festival despite difficulties in getting big corporate sponsors who have cut investments due to the economic downturn.

The slack, Jimena said, had been more than compensated by local businessmen who offered smaller funding but it came from more companies.

He said Ilonggos had developed a fierce pride of collective ownership over the event. This was shown in the emotional debate several years ago when organizers changed the color of the mascot ?Dagoy? from black to dark brown.

?Dinagyang has undoubtedly become a world-class event. More significantly, it has evolved into a truly community festival,? Jimena said.