Iloilo City’s Dinagyang Festival is held every fourth Sunday of January in honor of the Santo Niño, and also recalls the legendary barter of Panay between Malay settlers and the indigenous Ati people. Its centerpiece is the Ati Tribes Competition, where tribu performers in warrior costume, feathered headdresses, and soot-darkened skin perform tightly choreographed routines to thunderous drums and chanting, each tribe telling its own version of Panay’s history. “Dinagyang” comes from a Hiligaynon word for merrymaking, and the competition is widely regarded as one of the most disciplined street-dancing contests in the Philippines. These photos are from the Ati dance competition at Dinagyang 2017, held on January 22, 2017.
See also: Kasadyahan sa Dinagyang 2014
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