COVID-19 transforms Dinagyang 2021 into online spectacle
ILOILO CITY — Throngs of spectators would be out of the picture when the world-famous Dinagyang Festival goes digital to prevent the transmission of SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and which is carried by humans as its main hosts.
Organizers said Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo would host the event and be the official ambassadress of “Dinagyang Digital 2021.”
With the theme “One Dinagyang, One Iloilo, Halad kay Senor Sto. Niño”, the festival, known for drumbeats and striking colors, would be streamed live on social media.
The opening salvo on Jan. 15, 2021 and sadsad, or street dancing, on Jan. 23 would be shown online.
The culmination on Jan. 24 will feature an online Dinagyang Mass and pre-filmed dance performances of Ati tribes.
Lawyer Jobert Peñaflorida, president of the Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc., said the digital mode of the festival will enable spectators in other parts of the
country and abroad to view performances in different sites in the city.
He said among those to be recorded and streamed on social media are performances of selected tribes and those done by several tribes in collaborative work.
A tribute to health and other workers, who are on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19, would be added.
