ILOILO City – With festival fever reaching a boil, tickets for the highlight events of the Dinagyang Festival 2026 are rapidly running out, with the main judging venue at the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand already fully sold and only a few hundred seats remaining at the Iloilo Sports Complex, organizers said.
The Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. (IFFI) said the near sellout underscores intense public demand for seats at one of the country’s premier cultural spectacles, prompting a renewed call for last-minute buyers to act quickly.
“We are very happy with the response. This only shows how excited people are for Dinagyang 2026,” said IFFI executive director Joyce Clavecillas.
Dinagyang Festival is Iloilo City’s world-renowned religious and cultural celebration honoring the Santo Niño. It is famed for its powerful street-dancing competitions.
Clavecillas explained that while the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand can seat about 2,000 people, only 30 percent of its capacity is open to the public, with the rest are reserved for official guests of the Iloilo City Government and festival sponsors.
“At the Freedom Grandstand, we really have to balance public access and protocol seating. That’s why only a portion of the seats were sold to the public,” she said.
At the Iloilo Sports Complex, which has a seating capacity of roughly 4,000, allocations were also made for delegates of the Iloilo Provincial Government and sponsors, leaving only around 200 tickets still available for public purchase.
“Even at the Sports Complex, there are allocations for our partners and sponsors, but we made sure to reserve enough seats for the public. As of now, around 200 tickets are still available,” Clavecillas added.
She also confirmed that the newly designated judging area in La Paz district will accommodate only about 300 to 400 spectators, noting that the site was added primarily to expand viewing access along the performance route rather than to serve as a major ticketed venue.
“The additional judging area in La Paz is really in response to public clamor. It’s not as big as the main venues, but it will allow more people to experience the performances up close,” she said.
Ticket prices range from P1,000 to P2,000, depending on the seating area, and are sold exclusively through the official Dinagyang Festival website.
Clavecillas urged the public to purchase tickets only from authorized channels and warned against waiting until the last minute.
“With the remaining tickets going fast, we advise everyone not to wait until the last minute,” she said./PN
