BAGUIO CITY – More than one thousand five hundred dancers from the different parts of the country will be converging in the city for the upcoming first-ever four-day Baguio Dance Festival featuring dance and culture on April 23-26, 2025.
The 4-day festival will start with a grand parade along Session road, the city’s main thoroughfare, and culminate with a traditional ritual at the Melvin Jones grandstand.
Further, there will also be dance workshops, and competitions which will be capped by a colorful awarding ceremony.
The theme of the first-ever Baguio Dance Festival is ‘Sway to the Summit – Dancing Beyond Borders,’ inspired by a Cordillera athlete’s dream to bring national attention to the city’s dance community.
Five major dance events will be featured in the four-day festival that include dancesport, breaking, hip hop battles, streetdance crews and a cultural dance showdown that will surely draw record-breaking participation from various schools, dance organizations and regional delegations.
Moreover, some 288 dancesport athletes from the different parts of the country will compete in the different categories slated in two venues, the Saint Vincent gymnasium and the Baguio Central University gymnasium along Magsaysay Avenue.
The participants will come from various age divisions, with some coming from Cebu, Davao and the Ilocos regions which are known to be pioneers of the dancesport in the country.
On the other hand, more than 500 performers have already confirmed to display their respective skills and talents in the streetdance and hip hop categories, particularly in the one-by-one and crew format that will be conducted at the Bakakeng Central multipurpose gymnasium, showcasing electrifying raw urban talent in freestyle innovation.
Some 25 groups composed of 15 performers representing schools and cultural organizations from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will battle it out during the cultural dance showdown scheduled on April 24, 2025.
The performance of the cultural performers which were divided into junior and senior categories will feature the country’s rich dance heritage and regional traditions.
One of the highlights of the first-ever festival is the Philippine Dancesport Federation, Inc. national breaking championship where last year’s regional champions will return to defend their respective titles.
Winners from last year’s competition will earn the honor of becoming the composition of the Philippine team that will mark a historic link between grassroots talent and the national stage.
Representatives of the indigenous peoples in the city will be leading the conduct of the indigenous ritual right after the grand opening parade to ensure the successful conduct of the festival that will serve as a significant milestone in the country’s dance competition. By Dexter A. See
