FILE PHOTO: Performers representing Ati tribes compete in the street dancing competition in the 2019 staging of Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City. Photo by Nestor Burgos Jr. – On Tuesday, October 4, 2022, he Iloilo Arts Festival 2022 was launched at a mall in the Mandurriao district, highlighting the city’s rich culture and featuring the best of the local arts scene.
ILOILO CITY — The Iloilo Arts Festival 2022 was launched at a mall in the Mandurriao district on Tuesday, October 4, highlighting the city’s rich culture and featuring the best of the local arts scene.
This year’s Iloilo Arts Festival features exhibitions by top-notch and amateur Ilonggo visual artists as well as showcases by performing artists.
These include Ang Kan-on, Mapilit (Cooked Rice will Stick) a mini-festival by Artivism Iloilo on October 15 and 16 at the Sunburst Park, an Urban Streetscape and Design Competition headed by the United Architects of the Philippines, and CineMapadayon by the University of the Philippines Visayas, among others.
Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon said the festival opening was to celebrate the Adlaw Sang Ciudad de Iloilo, which is set on October 5 by virtue of City Regulation Ordinance No. 2020-097.
This was based on the date that Queen Regent Maria Cristina of Spain issued a royal decree in 1889 to convert the municipality of Iloilo into a city.
Ganzon said the arts festival is an opportunity to also celebrate the city’s rich history and culture.
“History awakens the people’s awareness of their identity, heritage, and worth. What a better way to celebrate Adlaw Sang Ciudad de Iloilo than to launch the Iloilo Arts Festival,” the vice-mayor said.
The festival, which was conceived in 2019 after an in-depth planning by visual and performing artists, was supposed to be celebrated physically in 2020 but was ultimately upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was finally launched in 2021 with both physical and virtual shows when restrictions were loosened over the city and province of Iloilo.
The Iloilo Arts Festival 2022 is presented by the Iloilo City Government and the Iloilo City Local Culture and Arts Council, together with SM City Iloilo, ARTivism Iloilo, Creativebox Photography, Dance Fusion, Eksena Training Services, Molo Mansion, PCD School of Performing Arts, United Architects of the Philippines District C4, and the University of the Philippines Visayas.
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