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The Dinagyang festival is probably the loudest, most extravagant, and most exciting fiesta in Iloilo City, Philippines. Foreigners as well as Filipino tourists flooded the city to witness and experienced this wonderful event. Colorful surroundings and the beating of the drums make the city alive.
This annual festival was first celebrated in 1969, when a replica of the Sto. Niño was brought over from Cebu. Today, it is celebrated every fourth Sunday of January. This occasion also commemorates the conversion of the island’s early settlers, the dark-skinned atis, to Christianity. This festival is quite similar to that of Kalibo’s Ati-atihan, but this is even more exciting.
Last January 25, the city was packed with people as usual. The streets were all decorated with Dinagyang banners, billboards, posters, and a huge bottle of beer. All warriors were painted back. Their beautiful costumes were made from indigenous materials such as cogon, coconut, bamboo, beads, and feathers. As I have noticed from their expressions, they looked excited and eager to win the competition.
I do not know about other people, but for me Dinagyang these days has become too commercialized and bring. Every year, you could see the same moves, formation and rhythm. I did not say that all participating tribes were all lousy, but almost all of them were just repeating their performances in the past years with a little modification. There were a lot of tribes who participated and from the time all of them had finished performing, my ears become numb because of the loud beating of the drums. I guess, the only tribe that caught my attention was the Bola-Bola tribe. They really deserved to be the over-all champion of this year’s Dinagyang. I do not want to sound killjoy, but this is what I have observed and felt after watching the event. Everybody is entitled to his or her opinion, isn’t it?
There were things that also interested me during Dinagyang festival. I liked the exhibit of paintings and other great things that reminded us of our rich culture. It also encouraged a lot of Ilonggo artists to share their talent and be appreciated. The souvenirs sold during Dinagyang also helped artists express themselves even on little things like the making of ati-ati souvenirs and other colourful stuffs like hats, whistles, headbands, necklaces, and many other different beadworks. During the evening, the party people scattered and enjoyed the smells and tastes of delicious array of food and listened all night long to the sounds of live bands all over the city.
Dinagyang was more than just a display of partying and merrymaking, but it represented the unique character of the Ilonggo people—artistic, fun loving, religious and sometimes crazy and wild.
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In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one of the world’s famous and most visited tourist attractions is the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer with open and welcoming arms. It is known to be an icon of Brazil and a symbol of Christianity for most Brazilians declare Catholicism as their religion. It is located at the summit of Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park. It stands 38 meters and weighs 635 tonnes. It offers breathtaking views of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Guanabara Bay, Sugarloaf Mountain and Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches. At the base of the iconic monument, a small chapel was erected which can accommodate 150 people.
The huge statue was designed by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French monumental sculptor Paul Landowski. It was constructed using reinforced concrete with the outer layers made from soapstone. Other designs which were considered before the final design was chosen were representation of the Christian Cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in his hands, and a pedestal symbolizing the world. The construction of the famous landmark took nine years to complete from 1922 to 1931. The cost of the monument was approximately about $250,000 with funds raised from donations.
This large Art Deco-style statue of Jesus was inaugurated on October 12, 1931, the day of Our Lady of Aparecida by President Getulio Vargas and Cardinal Dom Sebastiao Leme. It was declared as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World on July 7, 2007.