Preparations ready for 2023 Cadiz City Dinagsa Festival in January

October 26, 2022

Following the success of the Bacolod MassKara Festival 2022, Cadiz City in northern Negros Occidental announced that its own Dinagsa Festival will also push through in January, next year.

Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. officially made the announcement Monday night, saying that the decision is the city’s answer to the call made by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., for the country to open up its economy through tourism.

Marcos made the statement during the MassKara Festival highlights back on Sunday, October 23.
Escalante said they will prepare for a possible two-week long celebration.

The mayor noted that they might follow the example of some of the events and activities that were held during the MassKara for the public’s enjoyment.

Escalante added the initial meeting of the Dinagsa Festival committee would be held next month.

The Dinagsa Festival first began in 1972, and was coined after an event that took place in May 5, 1967 when a number of whales gathered in the city’s shores.

The festival is usually a weeklong celebration with the rhythmic beating of drums in honor of Señor Santo Niño de Cadiz, the city’s patron saint.

The festival was also formulated by a local parish priest in the past, as a way of bringing the people away from the growing vices of “sabong” or cock fight during the fiesta.

Dinagsa was last held in January of 2020, barely two months before the lockdowns brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.* (DGB)