DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental (PIA) — The Dumaguete City government has allocated P6 million for the celebration of one of the country’s emerging vibrant Sandurot Festival this year.
Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo expects thousands of visitors to witness this year’s Sandurot Festival, which showcases the spectacular uniqueness of Dumaguete’s Sandurot Pasundalan street dance and Pasundayag showdown on Sept. 28 in the city.
In a press conference, Dumaguete City tourism officer Katherine Aguilar disclosed that there are 13 participating contingents from the schools and barangays.
She said the festival will not only help provide economic stability in the city but also showcase the talents of local artists from Negros Oriental.
“The city tourism wants to convey the history, culture and heritage of Sandurot Festival in a unique way by telling a story. This is also a great story to inform the younger generations about the history of Sandurot Festival and Dumaguete City,” said Aguilar.
This year’s 36th Sandurot Festival is celebrated from Sept. 20 to 30, 2024.
The festival will be highlighted by the following events, namely: Paghimamat, a get-together which tells the story of Dumaguete; the Pasundalan or street dance; and the Pasundayag or showdown which features different dance contingents from the schools and barangays.
Other events include the Sandurot Half Marathon, Paghimamat, Dumakaon ta, Sinina Sandurot Fashion Costume Competition, Local Creative and Producers Market, Budbud Gabi Making Contest, Sandurot Photo Exhibit, Suroy, Hari and Reyna ng Sandurot, Terra Cotta Exhibit, and Hiniusang Sayaw.
Winners for the Pasundalan street dance for both school and barangay competition will receive cash prizes of P150,000 and a trophy for 1st place, P100,000 for 2nd place, and P75,000 for 3rd place.
For the Pasundayag showdown, winners of both school and barangay categories will also receive cash prizes of P150,000 and a trophy for 1st place; P100,000, 2nd place; and P75,000, 3rd place.
A consolation prize of P50,000 will be given to each of the participating contingents .
Top five winners with combined overall ranking both from the school and barangay categories will also get P2 million worth of projects for the 1st place, P1.5 million worth of projects for the 2nd place, P1M worth of projects for the 3rd place, P750,000 in projects for the 4th place, and P500,000 in projects for the 5th place.
On Sept. 15, the Sandurot Half Marathon will be participated in by 324 runners from across the country.
The ‘Paghimamat’ is a theatrical production that showcases the abundant heritage and history of the city on Sept. 21 at Pantawan People’s Park.
‘Dumakaon ta’ is a culinary exhibit of the dishes from Dumaguete’s best restaurants and food stalls, offering local and international flavors on Sept. 20.
The Sinina Sandurot Fashion Costume Competition, on its 4th edition, will showcase the elegant and vibrant festival costumes of local designers.
Other significant events include the local creatives and producers’ market that will advertise a diverse range of products and services from various micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in the city on Sept. 20; Budbud Gabi Making Contest, a battle between creating unique flavors and secret recipes that makes budbud gabi a true local treasure, on Sept. 22; Hari and Reyna ng Sandurot, one of the main highlights of Sandurot Festival, the battle for festival king and queen competition will be showed on Sept. 25; and Terra Cotta Exhibit, which exposes the artworks of renowned artists symbolizing the community’s wealth and treasure through red earth or ‘yuta’ or the so-called rich clay on Sept. 21-30, among others.
“We are now more prepared to stage different significant events of Sandurot Festival this year, so we are inviting our neighboring provinces and LGUs to witness Dumaguete’s cultural festival,” said Remollo. (JCT/PIA-7 Negros Oriental with reports from Jonah Nicolas and Princess Ayne Avellana, NORSU Interns)
