The provincial government here will be integrating the principles of the circular economy in the “Kasadyahan sa Kabanwahanan,” one of the highlights of the 2026 Dinagyang Festival.

Alfonso Baldonado III, Festival Director for Program and Production of Kasadyahan, said the concept will be initially introduced this year and will form part of their criteria for judging next year.

“Basically, what we are saying is that the circular economy principles for the festival that we adopted are reducing waste generation, repurposing existing festival materials, prioritizing recyclable materials, ensuring proper post-event material recovery, and the most important is to rethink designs and performances so our festival will become sustainable,” he said in an interview on Friday.

The festival is anchored on the theme “Fun, Foodie, Friendly Iloilo: A Green, Grateful and Growing Province Tungo sa Bagong Pilipinas.”

Green is for environmental renewal; grateful is gratitude to nature, and growing Iloilo is the “Tanum Iloilo” campaign of Gov. Arthur Defensor to achieve a forest province by 2044.

Baldonado said participating festivals are encouraged to ensure that at least 30 percent of their costumes and props are recyclable, reusable and natural, and minimize the use of single-use plastic, styrofoam, confetti and tarpaulins for zero-waste disposal.

During their performance, Metro Pacific Iloilo Water will provide free water, but performers need to bring their own water container. Waste will also be segregated.

”During the performance, we will announce the location of our materials recovery facilities so the people will know where to dispose of their waste. The PGENRO (Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office) will serve as the compliance monitoring marshal,” Baldonado added.

To encourage compliance, there will be a circular economy creativity award to instill in the consciousness of people the circular economy, he added.

“This year, we will just give them an idea about the circular economy. But next year, this will be part of the criteria for our Kasadyahan, and if they fail to comply, there will be a deduction in their final score,” Baldonado said.

He also hoped that it would be adopted by local government units in their locality and become their way of life.

In addition to serving as a venue to promote the circular economy, the Kasadyahan will also be utilized as a platform to increase public awareness on disaster risk reduction and management, and the anti-smoking/vaping campaign of the Iloilo City government. (PNA)