Festival drums rolled and crowds surged across Iloilo’s main venues over the weekend, but police said order prevailed as Dinagyang Festival 2026 launched with a peaceful opening salvo attended by nearly 30,000 people.
The Iloilo City Police Office reported that no major incidents were recorded during the two-day kickoff on January 10 and 11, attributing the calm to strong security deployment and close coordination with festival organizers.
Police placed total attendance at about 28,200, with large turnouts at both the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand and the Iloilo Sports Complex, where the Kasadyahan sa Kabanwahanan and the Dinagyang tribes’ opening performances drew thousands of spectators.
Of the total crowd, police data showed that around 11,000 people watched the Kasadyahan sa Kabanwahanan performances—7,000 at the Freedom Grandstand and 4,000 at the Sports Complex—while approximately 17,200 attended the Dinagyang opening salvo, with attendance nearly evenly split between the two venues.
Police Colonel Roland Bulalacao, deputy regional director for operations of the Police Regional Office 6 and concurrent officer-in-charge of the ICPO, personally directed the security operations, overseeing pre-event inspections, stakeholder coordination meetings, and real-time monitoring on the ground.
Police assessment later showed that the activities remained generally peaceful, reflecting both the effectiveness of security plans and the cooperation of the public.
The ICPO’s security posture emphasized crowd management, rapid emergency response, public assistance, and the prevention of man-made emergencies.
Authorities deployed uniformed and plainclothes personnel in strategic locations and activated Police Assistance Desks to immediately respond to festival-related concerns.
Bulalacao credited the incident-free opening to the combined efforts of the police, the city government, the Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc., and the public, noting that discipline and vigilance helped keep the festivities orderly.
Police said heightened security measures will remain in effect as Dinagyang 2026 moves toward its main events on January 24 and 25.*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, maintains a personal blog on Medium, and is the communications officer of Hope Builders Organization Negros Island.