Dinagyang 2027 gets bigger as Bola-Bola returns, Hugyaw debuts

ILOILO CITY — A former powerhouse, a returning tribe, and a newly formed community-based contingent are among the 10 tribes set to take part in the 2027 Dinagyang Festival tribes competition.

The Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. (IFFI) said nine of the 10 tribes will compete for the championship, while the Binirayan Festival of Antique will participate as a non-competing contingent.

The expanded field is up from the seven competing tribes in the 2026 competition.

The competing tribes are Tribu Pan-ay of Fort San Pedro National High School; Tribu Villahanon of Ramon Avancena National High School; Tribu Paghidaet of La Paz National High School; Tribu Salognon of Jaro National High School; Tribu Bola-Bola of Iloilo National High School; Tribu Ilonganon of Jalandoni Memorial National High School; Tribu Silak of Iloilo City National High School; Tribu Taga-Baryo of Barangay Bo. Obrero in Lapuz; and newcomer Tribu Hugyaw of Iloilo River Plains Integrated School.

Dinagyang, held every January in Iloilo City, honors the Santo Niño and is best known for its tribal dance competition.

The Binirayan Festival commemorates the legendary arrival of Bornean settlers in Antique.

For Bola-Bola tribe manager Diary Sargado Rodriguez, the comeback is about reconnecting with the tribe’s legacy and contributing to the city’s cultural celebration, not just chasing another championship.

“People are asking why we need to come back. It is not really the need, but we feel that it is our social responsibility to participate in the Dinagyang Festival,” she said.

“It is our declaration today that it is not just about winning but is about the legacy; it is about culture, heritage, and our social responsibility. Bola-Bola is not just a tribe. We teach, we dedicate, and we join the whole city,” she added.

Tribu Bola-Bola is returning to the competition after a 17-year hiatus. It last competed in 2011, when it placed second runner-up and won Best Discipline.

Founded in 1993, the tribe built a 19-year legacy in the Dinagyang Festival and has eight documented championship titles: 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004.

It also won six consecutive championships from 1996 to 2001.

Rodriguez said, however, that the comeback also means rebuilding the tribe’s resources from the ground up.

“We really are starting from scratch. We have zero budget, we have zero drums, we even have zero warriors,” she said.

Some former dancers have offered to return as warriors, Rodriguez said, but the school also wants to develop a new generation of dancers who can carry on the Tribu Bola-Bola tradition.

Tribu Villahanon, meanwhile, is returning after a two-year break. Tribe manager Ian said the tribe has a venue and students available to participate, but funding remains a challenge.

He said IFFI provided the tribe with an advance subsidy, which helped facilitate its return to the competition.

“With the help of IFFI, they gave us an advance amount, a subsidy, so that we’re finally returning after we rested for the last two years,” he said.

The 2027 competition will also welcome Tribu Hugyaw, which represents Iloilo River Plains Integrated School inside the Iloilo River Plains Subdivision in Barangay Lanit, Jaro.

Tribe manager Sheila Arancillo said the tribe aims to introduce the school and its artists to a wider audience.

“When you tell taxi drivers to bring them to Barangay Lanit, to our school, they ask where it is […] I wanted to let everybody know that we exist and that we have artists, choreographers, and we can actually put up a tribe for Dinagyang,” Arancillo said.

Although Tribu Hugyaw is new, Arancillo is familiar with the competition, having spent 15 years with Jaro National High School, the home of Tribu Salognon.

She said the subdivision has an existing community of former Dinagyang warriors and dancers because families who previously participated in the festival live there.

The Iloilo River Plains Subdivision is a government resettlement community in Jaro for families relocated from areas along the Iloilo River.

Arancillo, whose family also benefited from the housing program, said the tribe’s name was inspired by the residents’ experience of receiving new homes.

“The people there are very blessed because they were given a relocation area that is a subdivision. My family is one of the recipients of the housing program,” she said.

“Their joy is their homes. That is where we conceptualized ‘Hugyaw’ — a shout for joy for the blessings given by the government to the families at the Iloilo River Plains Subdivision,” Arancillo added.

IFFI President Dr. Ronald Latap said each participating tribe will receive a PHP 2 million subsidy, with the first tranche already released.