What is Dinagyang? Find out about the experience here.
The main reason why we planned our trip around this time is because I wanted my family to experience one of the great festivities Philippines has to offer and it so conveniently happened to occur on the island that we're from, Iloilo.
If you ever visit the Philippines, you HAVE to come around this time and you HAVE to come to Iloilo to experience it first hand.
We opted to watch the actual competition from home, seeing that we had 3 kids and the heat tends to peak between the hours of 2-5pm. But we managed to get to the festival around the time that all the dancers walked around the streets and we were able to take some pictures with them.
My cousins Rema and Kate went with us and these girls are simply the best. Not only did they take us to where we would get the best experience but they are so much fun to be around. My boys look up to them as older sisters and they oblige playfully. We are truly lucky to have such awesome girls in our lives. It's a shame that they live so far away.
They told us about how much money goes into this festival and how most of this money comes out of the dancer's own pockets. Did you notice how intricate and detailed their costumes are? It's simply beautiful and vibrant! It just shows how dedicated these kids are in what they do and how much they want to share their culture with the world.
We spent the rest of the evening at the Dinagyang food festival and did a little bit of shopping. I really wish I could afford to buy one thing from every vendor, they offered so many things that were beautiful all uniquely designed in their own special way.
My boys had a blast and I hope one day they can understand the true meaning of being part Ilongo and just how important this festival is to our culture. I know when I first experienced this 17 years ago, I never appreciated it at all. In fact, I felt like it was a drag and waste of time. But as an adult now, I'm so happy that my family made me experience it.
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