NegOr offers P.5M for Buglasan Festival champions

By: Jennifer Catan-Tilos

(Dumaguete City, October 20, 2010)  More than P500,000 cash prizes is up for grabs for the Buglasan Festivals of festival competitions on October 22.

Eleven contingents from different municipalities and cities don with colorful crafty dressed dancers are expected to converge for the festival of festival grand showdown at 8:00 o’clock in the morning at the Lamberto Macias Sports Center.

Each contingent will show off their pulsated and high energy dance with its story to tell.  Later at 2:00PM the dancers will spilled and romp on to the streets to vie the best street dance for P20,000.

Provincial Tourism Officer Myla Abellana said a P100,000 is set for the grand prize winner who will be champion for both showdown and street dance competitions. For this, the contingents must show grandiosity and gimmickry to surprise and entertain the judges and thousands of local and foreign tourists, Abellana opined.

Second placer will receive P70, 000 and P50, 000 for the 3rd winner for the festival.  Of the 11 participating local government units (LGUs), 8 will receive P20,000 each as consolation prize.

However, Abellana said category for best float will be awarded for P10,000 as 1st placer; P7,000 for 2nd place and P5,000 for 3rd winner.

The provincial government also allocated P10,000 for best drum corps while best in costume contingent will accept P5,000  and another P5,000 for best choreography.

Regional judges  from Visayas and Mindanao were given time to evaluate and make their choices as the dance numbers came to a halt in different judging areas at corner McDonald, Jollibee Perdices, World View Hotel, NORSU, NOHS and Daro North national Highway.

Performance, choreography, costume and music will be the criteria for judging in the main dance showdown, while in the street dancing competition, it will be the energy level, parade choreography, discipline and orderliness of the participants.

The tourism official said this year’s contingents performances are improving or getting better at par with the best festival performances in the country.

Tourists and locals alike are expected to join in on the fun by dancing to party the festival music in the streets.

The showdown and street dance are two of the highlights of the ten-day festival celebration. (PIA/JCT)