After three nights at Jeoffrey’s place in San Dionisio, we returned to Iloilo City for the big Dinagyang Festival’s dance and drumming competition on January 23rd. As I understand it, the festival is held to honor a statue of Santo Niño (or holy child, also known as baby Jesus), and is patterned after a similar festival in the region, the Ati-Atihan. We didn’t know we needed tickets for the choreographed dance competition, so we watched the performers—all high schoolers—from the street, marching in flamboyant costumes made from indigenous materials.