Free cooking classes, night market fill Iloilo City’s Charter Month

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

ILOILO CITY – Sports competitions, cultural showcases, livelihood programs, and public service initiatives will headline Iloilo City’s monthlong celebration of its 89th Charter Month this August.

The city government is urging Ilonggos to join activities that promote community engagement, local heritage, and economic opportunities.

Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu said the celebration features a lineup of events for athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, job seekers, students, families, and other sectors of the community.

“We have a lot of activities lined up—from sports and culture to social services and many more. We made sure that this Charter Month is truly for the Ilonggos,” Treñas-Chu said.

Among the celebration’s economic and tourism draws is the Fiesta sa Calle Real Night Market, set from Aug. 28 to 30 along the city’s historic Calle Real.

The three-day event will feature local food, products, cultural performances, and live entertainment.

It also gives local entrepreneurs a selling venue in the middle of the city’s best-preserved commercial heritage strip.

The night market builds on similar editions launched in 2024, which drew thousands of residents and visitors.

Calle Real, the prewar commercial spine of Iloilo City Proper, holds one of the country’s densest surviving clusters of art deco and beaux arts buildings and has been the site of a long-running facade restoration push by the city government and private owners.

The city government will also spotlight Iloilo City’s designation as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative City of Gastronomy through the Batang Kusinero program.

The program offers free cooking classes every Saturday in August at the Technical Institute of Iloilo City-Molo.

Participants will learn to prepare traditional Ilonggo dishes such as kadyos, baboy kag langka (KBL), laswa, and other local favorites.

Registration is free through the institute’s official Facebook page.

“I personally vouched for the cooking classes activity because as we all know, our gastronomy is tied to our culture,” Treñas-Chu said.

UNESCO named Iloilo City to its Creative Cities Network on Oct. 31, 2023, the first Philippine city listed under gastronomy and the third in the country overall after Baguio for crafts and folk art in 2017 and Cebu for design in 2019.

Culture and the arts will take center stage in a separate cluster of events.

Saot Ilonggo, the city’s traditional folk dance festival, launches Aug. 3 at SM City Iloilo, followed by GIG: Rise Up on Aug. 15 at the West Visayas State University Cultural Center and the Saot Ilonggo Competition on Aug. 21.

Treñas-Chu said the series aims to promote Ilonggo dance, music, and artistic expression while encouraging greater appreciation of the city’s cultural identity.

Sports will run through the celebration at venues across the city.

Competitions are scheduled in karate, taekwondo, boxing, volleyball, football, gymnastics, swimming, pencak silat, darts, fishing, marathon, and arnis.

The city government will also mount public service and livelihood activities.

These include a Public Employment Service Office (PESO) job fair on Aug. 25, mobile Philippine Statistics Authority and national ID registration under the Philippine Identification System, Health and Wellness Day, free veterinary consultations, anti-rabies vaccination, pet adoption, Family Planning Day, and medical and dental missions for senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

Treñas-Chu said this year’s Charter Month reflects the city’s commitment to making the celebration more meaningful by combining recreation, culture, livelihood opportunities, and government services in a monthlong observance.

The festivities will culminate on Aug. 25 with the recognition of the Top 10 Outstanding Ilonggos, honoring individuals who have made significant contributions to the city’s development.

Iloilo City celebrates Charter Day every Aug. 25 to commemorate its formal inauguration as a chartered city in 1937.

The city was created under Commonwealth Act No. 57, signed in October 1936 and amended weeks later by Commonwealth Act No. 158, which merged the towns of Molo, Jaro, Mandurriao, La Paz, and Arevalo with the municipality of Iloilo.

President Manuel L. Quezon set the inauguration for Aug. 25, 1937, with Ramon J. Campos as the first city mayor, marking nearly nine decades of local governance and development.