POTOTAN IWAG FESTIVAL 2009

Pototan’s IWAG Festival opened last December 16 that would usually lasts until the 1st of January.

Pototan is a first class municipality northwest of Iloilo city dubbed as the “Christmas Capital of Western Visayas” because of its yearly Christmas Festival of Lights known as IWAG Festival.

During the Christmas season, the artistry of ‘Pototanons’ is exhibited through the unique and grand display of Christmas lights and decors. The town’s plaza and municipal hall is garbed into glittering and colorful lights as local craftsmanship are depicted in the style, arrangement, and designs of several lights, ornaments and displays.


Along with this sparkling and colorful custom, the focus of this event is to portray the message of Christmas, that is to celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ themed in the festival itself as the ” True Light that Enlightens the World”.

As this yearly tradition draws many people from different areas of Western Visayas particularly Iloilo, it also helps to foster the socio-cultural and economic development of Pototan.
Started in 1997, IWAG Festival is not just about the dazzling lights and displays in the town plaza, it is also a night of cultural shows, food fair and the yearly tradition of the town people to light up their own homes with beautiful Christmas lights.



An amateur video using a Sony ericson cp last December 27, 2009

ILONIANS

Iloilo is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of Panay Island and is bordered by Antique to the west and Capiz and the Jintotolo Channel to the north. Just off Iloilo's southeast coast is the island of Guimaras, once part of Iloilo but now a province in its own right. Across the Panay Gulf and Guimaras Strait is Negros Occidental. Iloilo's capital is Iloilo City. Iloilo is the capital province in Region VI.

People and culture

People from Iloilo are called Ilonggos. There are two local languages spoken in the province: Hiligaynon sometimes called Ilonggo, and Kinaray-a. Hiligaynon and variants of it are spoken in Iloilo city and a few towns of the province.
Spanish architecture can be seen in old buildings in downtown Iloilo. Chinese Merchants and Indonesians were trading with the Ilonggos long before the Spaniards came. The ruling Spanish government encouraged these foreign merchants to trade in Iloilo but they were not given privileges like ownership of land. The Mestizo a class eventually was born from the intermarriages of the locals and Chinese merchants, Spanish with the local Melayu people. They later emerged as the ruling class of the Ilonggos (see Principalía).
The town fiesta is one of the most important events for Ilonggos. Almost every town (municipality) in Iloilo has a fiesta and festival celebrated annually

Hiligaynon (or "Ilonggo") is an Austronesian language spoken in Western Visayas in the Philippines. Hiligaynon is concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental. It is also spoken in the other provinces of the Panay Island group, such as Capiz, Antique, Aklan, Guimaras, and many parts of Mindanao like Koronadal City, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat. (It is spoken as a second language by Karay-a in Antique, Aklanon and Malaynon in Aklan, Cebuano in Siquijor, and Capiznon in Capiz.). There are approximately 7,000,000 people in and outside the Philippines who are native speakers of Hiligaynon, and an additional 4,000,000 who are capable of speaking it with a substantial degree of proficiency.
The language is referred to as "Ilonggo" in Negros Occidental and in Iloilo. More precisely, "Ilonggo" is an ethnoliguistic group referring to the people living in Panay and the culture associated with the people speaking Hiligaynon. The boundaries of the dialect called Ilonggo and that called Hiligaynon are unclear. The disagreement of where what name is correct extends to Philippine language specialists and native laymen.
[edit] Geography
The Province of Iloilo is the largest marshland in Western Visayas after the Sanderbans. The province is divided into two distinct geographic regions; the highlands of the Madia-as on the western border and the lowland plains which account for a larger portion of the province. Small islands east of its northernmost tip also dot the Visayan Sea - of these, Pan de Azucar and Sicogon are well-known.
[edit] Political
Iloilo is subdivided into 42 municipalities, 1 component city, and 1 highly urbanized city
[edit] Cities

Iloilo City aerial view
Iloilo City
Passi City
Iloilo City is independent from the Province of Iloilo, but remains the Provincial Capital of the Province.
[edit] Municipalities
Ajuy
Alimodian
Anilao
Badiangan
Balasan
Banate
Barotac Nuevo
Barotac Viejo
Batad
Bingawan
Cabatuan
Calinog
Carles
Concepcion
Dingle
Dueñas
Dumangas
Estancia
Guimbal
Igbaras
Janiuay
Lambunao (known for Tinagong Dagat)
Leganes
Lemery
Leon
Maasin
Miagao
Mina
New Lucena
Oton
Pavia
Pototan
San Dionisio
San Enrique
San Joaquin
San Miguel
San Rafael
Santa Barbara
Sara
Tigbauan
Tubungan
Zarraga