ILOmination Philippine Light Festival to dazzle spectators at the 2025 Dinagyang Festival

The Dinagyang Festival of the central Philippine province of Iloilo is set to light up the night with the innovative spectacle that is the ILOmination Philippine Light Festival.

The event brings together several of the Philippines’ top light festival crews as a fresh addition to the traditional celebration which has been held in Iloilo since 1967.

Conceived as a way of honouring the Santo Niño [Christ-child], the event is held every fourth Sunday of January which falls on the 26th this year.

The ILOmination Philippine Light Festival was first staged in 2023 as a symbolic way of embracing the light after the darkness brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iloilo Festivals Foundation director for arts and culture Elvert Bañares said of the upcoming event:   “We hope this kind of cultural exchange will be sustained and become more meaningful. Now, we want to spread it to the world. Let’s illuminate the nation through faith, culture, arts, creativity, and unity,” 

Who’s playing at the festival?

The ILOmination Philippine Light Festival, which complements the Kasadyahan sa Kabanwahanan focusing on Iloilo’s local festivals, offers a grand prize equivalent to over US$8,000.

Joining as competing groups are the Pandang Gitab, the official festival of Oriental Mindoro; Pavvurulun Afi Festival of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan; Tanglawan Festival of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan; Hermosa Festival of Zamboanga City; and Bailes de Luces Festival of La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

Last year’s ILOmination champion, Tribu Sidlangan, will perform as a guest, along with Iloilo’s Banaag Festival from Anilao, the province’s only light festival.