Jaro Fiesta 2012

On February 2 is the Fiesta of the Jaro district of Iloilo. This is Iloilo City's most prominent district which was itself a city during the Spanish era. The fiesta is one of the grandest fiestas of the city because of the procession, parades, and the well-known cockfighting competitions at the Iloilo Coliseum, where cockfighting aficionados (including the likes of Manny Pacquiao) from all over the Philippines converge.

Jaro is also a place where one can find many old mansions that are a testament to the Spanish architectural influence on the country. The Jaro cathedral is the site where one can find the statue of the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Our Lady of the Candles), which was canonically crowned by the late Pope John Paul II during his visit in 1982; it remains the only religious statue in the Philippines to have been personally crowned by a Pope.
This year, February 2 is on a Thursday.

Jaro Fiesta 2010

[excerpts from an article by Mera Joy Aniolga and May Franzell Obieta]
GROWING up in such a scenic place, I must admit, I took for granted the beautiful spots that Jaro offered. I have spent most of my waking hours walking, looking, smelling and witnessing almost everything that Jaro offered me. I was too blind to see that I live in one of the most beloved districts of Iloilo City.

Being a Jareno, the annual fiesta celebrated every 2nd of February is such a grand event. People from different parts of Iloilo would flock to Jaro to participate in the festival. Some would go to the church to honor the district's patron saint, Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, said to be miraculous. Some would go there to visit their relatives and friends.

History showed that Jaro used to be a bustling town in Panay even before the Spaniards came. It was the seat of governmental power and business activity and center of Catholicism in the entire Iloilo Province and not the other way around as it is today.