By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Kadalag-an Festival of Negros Occidental’s Victorias City was declared the winner of the 2023 Panaad sa Negros’ Best of Festival Dance Competition at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City on Tuesday night, April 18.

Victorias City received a trophy and a cash prize of P100,000.

In a social media post, City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez said it was the first time that they brought home the gold.

“It has been 27 years [excluding the three pandemic years] of the Panaad Festival, the highest ranking previously was in sixth place. We never made it to the Top 5, except for this time,” Benitez commented.

He congratulated the Kadalag-an dancers, especially their choreographer Ricky Lapidante and tourism officer Rical Calseña for their contributions to the entire team.

Meanwhile, the Tinabu-ay Festival of Murcia town was the first runner-up in the festival dance contest, which won a P75,000 cash prize.

Silay City’s Kansilayan Festival and San Carlos City’s Pintaflores Festival bagged second and third places with P50,000 and P30,000 cash prizes, respectively.

Ilog town’s Kisi-kisi Festival was fourth runner-up and won a P20,000 cash prize.

San Carlos City also got the special award for best festival video introduction and a P20,000 cash prize.

A total of 25 local government units participated in the said competition./DGB, WDJ