Do we really define the Dinagsa’s connotation?

By: Erwin Mabugat

A crowd of both young and adults enjoy smudging themselves, particularly on faces, with colorful paints, and smudge on anyone’s faces, anywhere. And do smudging again.

This is a wonderfully festive scenario on every Dinagsa Festival. We call it the “Lamhitanay”, a significant segment of the Festival that draws tremendous crowds. To most, Dinagsa is about ‘Lamhitanay’.

That’s how we make it out: Dinagsa is all about ‘Lamhitanay’. The term colloquially refers to the artistic and creative smudging on body parts, particularly on faces, with colorful paints.

The word “Dinagsa” literally refers to the sudden surging of school of fish ashore and/ or to the 12 whales that landed in Cadiz shoreline on May 7, 1967. Thus, the ‘Dinagsa Festival’ is inspired to create the influx of local and international tourists. As the ‘Dinagsa sa Cadiz’ that becomes a charade of fun and pageantry.

Does 37^th Dinagsa Festival 2011 truly define the connotation?

Let’s face it! The people come for Dinagsa’s ‘lamhitanay’ alone. Most people arrive during noon time. That’s certainly the post-Dinagsa competition where they enjoy on what we call ‘lamhitanay’ that takes place anywhere, from Cabahug across the Abelarde Streets. This is where we smudge ourselves with colorful paints, roaming around the crowded areas, and smudge on other’ faces, both friends and strangers. These revelers execute the ‘lamhitanay’ while dancing to the beat of deafening drumbeats and remix ‘tech-no’ rhythm.

The Dinagsa Festival is not all about ‘lamhitanay’. But it plays a great part of the activity.

Imagine the Dinagsa without that ‘lamhitanay’. Imagine the streets without those people who come and get back every year just to frolic with the ‘lamhitanay’ passion. The festival will get bored. The streets will be empty. And it will transform the celebration into an ‘inverted podium’ that delivers nothing but uncertainties. Just like the old-aged man being amputated with the wheelchair.

Now then, what?

The Dinagsa Festival just won the national award as the country’s 2010 Best Tourism Event First Runner up. This is all indebted from all the people who worked hard in the accomplishment. We salute you all.

As we are obviously aspiring for the top award, however, I would suggest for the conceptualization of an innovation that would surely railroad Cadiz to a beautiful map of world-class festivals. This will include the creation of the Dinagsa Festival Foundation or the Cadiz City Event Management Group that would definitely focus on the celebration.

The Foundation’s main objectives would include to conduct research, create and develop the strategies and initiatives that partly or wholly modify or innovate the Dinagsa concept./*