By: Emme Rose Santiagudo
Around 400 food and beverage kiosks will be set up at the Downtown Triangle area in City Proper district of Iloilo City to complete the Dinagyang 2020 experience.
From more than 1,000 kiosks last year, the new Dinagyang Festival organizer, Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. (IFFI) decided to limit the number to save space for the parade route of the Dinagyang 360 tribes competition and ease traffic congestion during the festival.
“Ginlantaw ta ang traffic and economic impact nga ginasara ta ang dalan nga damo-damo during the week so that’s the reason nag-gamay aton kiosk,” Phillipp Chua of the Committee on Kiosks said in a press conference on Wednesday.
Chua said they limited the number of kiosks to also ensure the quality of food served during the festival.
“Kis-a sa kadamu-on, ma-sacrifice na ang quality,” he lamented.
The 400 kiosks will only be limited to food and beverages. Each kiosk will measure 2.5 by 2.5 meters and will be charged P5,000 for the three-day highlights of the festival from January 24-26, 2019.
According to Chua, the 400 food and beverage kiosks will be situated at the Downtown Triangle or the Iznart, Aldeguer, Delgado, Ledesma, Guanco, and Solis streets in City Proper while Arsenal area will be reserved for the “Kaon Ta, Iloilo” Facebook group.
Meanwhile, Chua said they might locate all non-food products in a vacant lot in front of the Plazoleta Gay in City Proper.
“We’re thinking non-food, duta dira ni Mr. Alan Tan sa Plazoleta, there is a 2,500 -meter, damo naman ta panaderia like mga pasalubong entities, one-stop,” he added.
While they do not discourage ambulant vendors during the festival, Chua said they are also trying to ascertain the location of the ambulant vendors so that they do not impede the performance area of the tribes.
He reminded that all the vendors are required to have their own health cards.
