Dagupan tops ‘Festival of the North’
THE city’s homegrown talents prevailed this time in the Festivals of the North competition.
Dagupan Bangus Festival, represented by Barangay Lucao, was adjudged the winner of the prestigious street dancing contest among the region’s best by board of judges composed of prominent national personalities in arts, culture and music circles.
Dagupan bested 16 other street dancing groups in the Ilocos Region, Cordillera and Region III to bring home the grand prize of P200,000 and was also adjudged best in choreography for additio0nal P20,000.
“Our street dancers really worked hard and prepared long for the event,” said Lucao Barangay Captain Lino Fernandez, also president of the Liga ng mga Barangay in Dagupan City.
The Lucao street dancers, who finished second in the city category in last year’s Festivals of the North in the 2009 Bangus Festival, performed the ‘Gilon-Gilon’, a unique dance simulating the movement of fishermen while harvesting bangus in ponds and pens.
They wrested the Festivals of the North crown just three days after they won the ‘Gilon-Gilon ed Baley’ Street Dancing Competition among 31 barangays of Dagupan City.
The Dagupan team won the top prize of P100,000 and another P10,000 for best in choreography too.
The “Festivals of the North”, only in its third appearance in the Dagupan Bangus Festival, is a street dancing competition among the best of the best festival champions north of Manila.
The Banga Festival of San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte placed first runner-up and won P100,000, followed by the Pamulinawen Festival of Laoag City, the 2009 winner in the city category, placed third for P75,000.
Fourth placer was the Dinamulag-Mango Festival of Masinloc, Zambales and captured P50,000. while the Karawayan-Abel Iloko of Caoayan, Ilocos Sur was fifth at P30,000.
All the other entries received P10,000 as consolation prize.
The street dancers first participated in a dance-parade along the streets of Dagupan that ended at the city plaza where each formally presented their focal presentation for the competition before about 30,000 spectators.
Special dance presentations were made by dancers from the Strawberry Festival of La Trinidad Benguet, Ibon-Ebon Festival of Candaba, Pampanga, last year’s champion in the municipality category and Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City that just won in the Aliwan Festival in Metro Manila.
Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, chair of the Dagupan Bangus Festival for the third time in a row, thanked all the participants in the Festivals of the North for their coming.
She invited them to return next year where bigger prizes will be at stake.
The vice mayor said the yearly Festivals of the North enabled the people north of Manila to showcase their talents, customs and tradition, including their native products in one spectacular presentation.
Mayor Alipio Fernandez, Jr., honorary chairman of the 2010 Bangus Festival distributed cash prizes to all the winners. –LM
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