Iloilo City Summer Arts Fest set for launching

APART from the legendary and jaw-dropping street dances and street parties brought by the Dinagyang Festival, Iloilo City will soon launch another international spectacle that hopes to showcase the “City of Love” as Western Visayas’ center of Ilonggo arts and culture.

Mayor Jerry Treñas said he is now working closely with the private sector and the city’s top icons in arts and culture for the launching of the first ever Iloilo City Summer Arts Festival.

“One way to develop a city is through its arts and culture, and we Ilonggos have such a vibrant community and an arsenal of creative talent. My wife, Rosalie, along with my daughter, Raisa, and their peers Lisa Baliao, Vicente Balinas, Leny Ledesma and Jennifer Palmares Fong, VP of Megaworld Corporation, and Aileen Canja of Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Arts have brainstormed for the first ever Iloilo Summer Arts Festival,” Treñas said.

The event will be a city-wide festival to be held every April starting next year showcasing Iloilo City’s visual arts, kinetic (dance) arts, theatre and film, music and literature, digital, along with culinary arts.

“The festival, which will be held under the guidance of advisor, renowned Visayan artist Mr. Manny Garibay, who excitedly talked to me and my wife on rediscovering the rich culture of the Ilonggos by pushing for a festival that advocates the integration and conscious practice of art in all venues and aspects of communal life,” Treñas stated.

“I look forward to a participative kind of festival wherein artists, students, teachers, the youth and their families, professionals, entrepreneurs, and communities are all present to enjoy the different kinds of arts we offer, and most of all, to increase their awareness of our local arts, culture, and heritage. We have many stories to tell through the arts, we owe it to the next generations to keep this alive,” he added.

In the next few weeks, the Iloilo City government will be contacting artists, schools, and individuals and organizations, and will be mobilizing the Blue Angels on the ground to plan in detail and to help mount this ambitious festival.

By October 15, the mechanics for the logo, title, and music/jingle contest for the Summer Arts Festival will be announced.

“Iloilo, we have much to be proud of. We are a very creative people. I look forward to the different kinds of artists featuring their works while Ilonggos, and even guests and tourists, enjoy the beautiful creations around the city next summer,” Treñas said. (PIO)