Mayor Jun Babasa said “the festival is the highlight of the 47th founding anniversary of the municipality with the theme: “Abante na ta Bayog” (Move forward Bayog).
Babasa said the festival would feature street dance competitions to be participated in by all the 28 barangays taht are grouped in six clusters.
The performers are mostly composed of high school students from public and private schools and barangay officials.
The festival was Mayor Babasa’s brainchild in 2011 after winning the 2011 local elections.
Babasa noticed that since his childhood the municipality is abundant not only in natural resources but in culture and traditions as well.
Thus, he wanted to promote its rich culture and traditions through dances.
He also bared that the prizes for the street dance competitions are as follows: first prize –P60 thousand, second – P40 thousand, third –P20 thousand and a consolation prize of P10 thousand for the non-winners.
A festival queen will also be chosen from among the 6 clusters and will receive a cash prize of P5 thousand.
Babasa said invited judges are from the academe and national government agencies in Pagadian City to avoid favoritism and to preserve the integrity of the competition.
The festival commenced with the opening of agro-industrial trade fair and business night last May 3.