By Francis Allan L. Angelo
Performers and artists who will join the virtual Dinagyang 2020 festival will be placed under a 20-day bubble rehearsal as precaution from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Renowned choreographer Rommel Flogen, president of the Ilonggo Artists Festival Association, said placing the 50 participants in a bubble means that they cannot go out of the rehearsal venue for 20 days to protect them from the infection.
Festival organizers plan to subject the 40 warriors and 10 female dancers to swab extraction for COVID-19 testing on Nov 26 which is also the start of the bubble.
But the final schedule will depend on the decision of the Department of Education-Iloilo City division, Flogen told Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo.
Flogen said they want to use the Jalandoni Memorial National High School as rehearsal venue.
Apart from the performers, 10 artists will handle the costumes while 20 choreographers and dance masters will help train the dancers.
The Iloilo Festival Foundation Inc, which organizes the festival, set aside P250,000 for food of the participants.
The IFFI also asked the Iloilo City Police Office to deploy officers who will secure the venue and the participants.
Dinagyang Festival will push through in 2021 via virtual or online platforms amid the pandemic.
There will be no face-to-face events as all events will be broadcast through social media and possibly through local television and radio stations.
The main festivities will include pre-taped performances.
The mass may either be live or pre-taped, depending on the decision of Fr. Jose Gonzales of the San Jose Placer Parish.
The performers will undergo strict health protocols from their rehearsals to their performance.
