Dinagyang 2020: A Big Break for Businesses

With about 7,107 islands, it’s not surprising that there are as many festivals in the
Philippines. From Dinagyang in Iloilo to the Kadayawan Festival in Davao City, Filipinos
always have reasons to celebrate. Many of these festivals are religious in nature. However, there
are also those that are commemorated for their historic or economic value. The Dinagyang
Festival is known far and wide for its participants’ impressive choreography and striking
costumes that reflect Ilonggo ingenuity, craftsmanship and artistry. Not only have that,
Dinagyang opened its doors to local business to showcase what Iloilo can offer.

Festivals important for growing a town’s identity but these celebrations are known to
bring a healthy influx of money into the town. Festivals can boost a towns economy by either
extending the current seasonal income (money made during peak tourism times in the town-
usually correlating with holidays) or by creating an entirely new tourism season (Visser, 2005).
The economic impact of a festival on a small town is simple; people come from outside the town
and by participating in the festival, spend money which goes directly towards the local economy
of the town (Saayman A, & Saayman, M, 2006).

Tourism is the driving force behind a festival and the more a town can offer in terms of
tourism, the more attractive the festival will be. Festivals are a way of a town advertising itself to
the outside world in the hopes of attracting people willing to settle there or foreign investors to
take an interest in the town (Saayman A, & Saayman, M, 2006). The money generated from a
festival is used in a small town to help ensure sustainability of the town and to help the town
regenerate (if it had previously gone through a period of decline) (Saayman A, & Saayman, M,
2006). A tourist spending money in the town during a festival has an impact on a variety of
sectors due to the interlinked nature of the tourism industry (a tourist will need to purchase food
and drink during the festival, have access to accommodation as well as pay to participate in the
events of the festival, this will benefit a large number of businesses in the town) (Saayman A, &
Saayman, M, 2006).