ILOILO City – The Filipino-Chinese community here gave way to the recent Dinagyang Festival.
Instead of celebrating the Chinese New Year on Jan. 25, they rescheduled it to today.
As usual, everybody is invited to join the festivities downtown. It is the community’s way of “breaking barriers and building bridges towards a united Iloilo”, their 2020 Chinese New Year celebration theme.
According to Dr. Felipe Uygongco, chairperson of the Chinese New Year Task Force, today’s celebration starts with a grand parade at 3:30 p.m. from the Iloilo provincial capitol to the downtown area.
There are an estimated 3,000 parade participants, mostly students from Chinese schools Hua Siong College of Iloilo, Ateneo de Iloilo, Sun Yat Sen, and Iloilo Scholastic Academy.
A grand cultural show of dances and musical performances follows the parade at the Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch on Plazoleta Gay, a busy intersection of three major downtown streets JM Basa, Iznart and Ledesma.
A fireworks display caps the show.
Uygongco said balladeer Richard Poon is the special guest.
The Filipino-Chinese community’s Chinese New Year celebration, now on its 17th year, has the backing of the city government and Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. This year’s celebration is spearheaded by Hua Siong College of Iloilo.
On Monday, Jan. 27, celebrations kicked off at SM City Iloilo. There was a lantern parade.
Adding color to the Chinese New Year celebration is the three-day “Night Market and Food Festival” with concert (Jan. 27 to Jan. 29).
Mayor Jerry Treñas initiated the yearly Chinese New Year celebration in 2003 as a way of recognizing the significant contributions of the Filipino-Chinese community to the city’s booming economy.
The metropolis is home to some 13,000 Filipino-Chinese.
There are a lot of active Filipino-Chinese organizations in Iloilo. Among these are the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Iloilo, Inc., the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Panay, Inc., and the Philippine-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Panay Chapter.
“The Chinese New Year Festival is our way of showcasing our culture to our Filipino brothers. Through the many events we want our Filipino brothers to learn and appreciate Chinese culture. We’ve already established a long-time friendship here in the city over the decades. With the annual celebration we seek even closer ties between the Ilonggos and the Filipino-Chinese community,” said 2020 Chinese New Year Task Force member Ian Eric Pama./PN
