The Dinagyang is the biggest and most colorful religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City, Philippines. Dinagyang had its humble beginnings in the devotion to the Señor Santo Niño that began to take root in the hearts of Ilonggos some 40 years ago. Rev. Fr. Ambrosio Galindez started to introduce the devotion to Santo Niño in November 1967.
The Dinagyang is held on the fourth Sunday of January, or right after the Sinulog In Cebu and the Ati-Atihan in Aklan.
In 1968, a replica of the original image of the Santo Niño de Cebu was brought to Iloilo by Fr. Sulpicio Enderez. He intended that image to be given as a gift to the Parish of San Jose through Father Galindez. It was no ordinary arrival in Iloilo, for the faithful, led by members of Confradia del Santo Niño de Cebu, Iloilo Chapter, worked to give the image a fitting reception starting at the Iloilo Airport, down the streets of Iloilo, where they paraded it.
The observance of the feast since the arrival of the image was characterized with merry-making confined only within the parochial level. The Confradia patterened the features of the Ati-atihan similar to Ibajay, Aklan, where natives dance on the streets, their bodies covered with soot and ashes. It was not an imitation in its entirety of rituals, but an imitation done in the spirit of devotion to the Child Jesus.