DINAGYANG in Nine Hours

The plan came in a whirlwind but it went very well. I mean the unfolding of the events from the port to the grandstand and back to the port was just too colorful to be translated in a painter’s canvas. It was something that I can remember with a grin longer that the ordinary. I am talking about my first Dinagyang in the neighboring city, Iloilo.

I tried to quantify the fleeting hours of feeling the festive beat and its 9. We arrived around 7:45am and departed at 4:45pm. All events were being wrapped in that very short span of time. How we were able to do that? I am not saying! (Imagine an impish smile).

When we arrived at the hotel for our breakfast, a large screen was already in place on the side probably for hotel guests who are tired to go out. Or they don’t want the sun to kiss on their cheeks. Or they don’t want people of all sorts brush elbows with them. I don’t really know. What I know is that we are not in any of those categories.

The program already commenced while we were wrapping up our full breakfast. I saw from the screen Jed Madela singing the Lupang Hinirang with microphone glitches. His voice was heard in the middle of the song. (What a crap!) Then off we went to the grandstand already jam-packed and watched the shrill-provoking, blood-pressure-rise-inducing performances of the 14 tribes. I could feel my shoulders moving along with the beating of the drums! There were politicians and celebrities within our sight – Franklin Drilon, Bong and Lani Mercado, Miguel Zubiri.

Dinagyang 2011 is indeed a masterful execution of the interplay of art, culture, and religiosity.

Now I’m looking forward to Dinagyang 2012 and make sure that it will be more than nine hours! Hala Bira!