The Iloilo Freedom Grandstand is a

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

located on

Muelle Loney Street Muelle Loney Marginal Wharf Road, also known as Muelle Loney Street, is a street and wharf located in the Iloilo City Proper district of Iloilo City, Philippines. It runs along the south bank of the Iloilo River, stretching from the Muelle Loney ( ...

Iloilo City Proper Iloilo City Proper, also known as Downtown Iloilo or simply Iloilo among locals, is an Districts of Iloilo City, administrative district in Iloilo City, Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of the island of Panay in the Western Visayas ...

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of th ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It was built in 2018 as a replacement for the old grandstand with the same name located on Calle Real, which was demolished the same year as part of the revival project of

Sunburst Park Sunburst Park, originally known as Plaza de Aduana, is a recreational park situated in front of the Iloilo Customs House on Calle Real in downtown Iloilo City, Philippines. The park is named in honor of the United States Army 40th Infantry "Su ...

, where the grandstand used to be located. The grandstand is a popular venue for the

Dinagyang Festival The Dinagyang Festival is a religious and cultural festival held annually on the fourth Sunday of January in Iloilo City, Philippines, in honor of Santo Niño, the Holy Child, and to commemorate the historic pact between the Malay settlers an ...

, where the Ati Tribes Competition and the

Kasadyahan Festival The Kasadyahan Festival is a cultural festival that is part of the larger Dinagyang Festival held annually on the fourth Saturday of January in Iloilo City, Philippines. It precedes the main highlight of Dinagyang, the Ati Tribes Competition, wh ...

are mainly held.

History

The original grandstand was built in 1955 within Freedom Park (formerly known as Sunburst Park) by the first elective city mayor, Rodolfo Ganzon, as a concrete memorial to the new found political freedom of Iloilo City residents, which restored to the people of Arevalo, Jaro,

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

Mandurriao Mandurriao () is a Districts of Iloilo City, district in Iloilo City, Philippines. It is the second-largest district by geographical area as well as the third-most populous district, with 62,240 people in the 2020 census. Mandurriao is one of t ...

, Molo, and

their constitutional right to elect their own officials, which used to be appointed. In 1992, during the administration of Mayor Mansing Malabor, the grandstand was renovated and expanded, increasing its seating capacity to 1,800. However, the renovation obstructed the view of the

Iloilo Customs House The Iloilo Customs House (; ) is a historical building in Iloilo City, Philippines. It was built in 1916 to a design by American architect Ralph Harrington Doane, then Consulting Architect of the Bureau of Public Works in the Philippine Island ...

located behind it. As a result, the other structures in Freedom Park, such as eateries and display booths, were demolished. In 2018, the grandstand was relocated to

, where the Old

Panay Railways Panay Railways, Inc. is a government-owned and controlled corporation of the Philippines that formerly operated railway systems on the islands of Panay and Cebu. It is headquartered in La Paz, Iloilo City, and is a subsidiary of Phividec Railw ...

Terminus once stood, overlooking the

Iloilo River The Iloilo River is an estuarine river located in the southeastern part of the province of Iloilo, in Western Visayas, Philippines. The river starts in Oton at the Batiano estuary, then traverses through the Iloilo City districts of Arevalo, ...

, while the old structure was demolished as part of the Sunburst Park revitalization project. The new grandstand, with more than twice the capacity of the original, was first used during the 2019 edition of the Dinagyang Festival.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Iloilo City Proper