Cebu’s Tribu Lumad Basakanon is the champion in the recent International category of the Powerful Daegu Festival held in Daegu, South Korea, on July 10, 2022.

The Cebu-based dance group, which represented the Philippines, showcased the spirit and colors of the Sinulog Festival in their dance. Dressed in their striking costumes, they danced to the traditional beat of the Sinulog, one of the country’s biggest festivals celebrated to honor Sr. Santo Nino.

Co-chairman of the Korean Philippine Festival Cultural Exchange Association and former executive director of the Sinulog Foundation Inc., Ricky Ballesteros, confirmed the group’s win on his Facebook post after posting a short congratulatory post followed by the group’s video performance.

The winning group will take home a cash prize amounting to 8,000,000 Korean won. Mongolia came in second for silver, and Indonesia won a special award.

The Daegu Powerful Festival, formerly the Colorful Daegu Festival, is the biggest parade festival in Asia and features colorful attractions performed by parade teams from Korea and abroad. It also has special stages, busking, street performances, and other activities that highlight the rich culture of Daegu and South Korea.

Tribu Lumad Basakanon secured their spot in the top 10 after two elimination rounds, making their way into the finals round, where they bested other teams and bagged their gold.

Ballesteros shared on Facebook the preparation of the group during their last dress rehearsals in Cebu before departing to Korea.

“I had the chance to attend and watch the dress rehearsal of Tribu Lumad Basakanon on the rooftop of the Barangay Hall and gave them lectures on what to do and what to expect in Korea and how to behave in Korea as ambassadors of Korean culture,” he shared.

Ballesteros also gave them tips on “mindset on how to win the competition.”

The dance group has also previously competed in other international competitions, such as the World Dance Carnival in Purwakarta, Indonesia, in 2016 and the Wonju Dynamic Dance Festival in South Korea in 2017.

Jason Everett Gabonia posted a short video on the Lumad Basakanon official Facebook page of the group’s simple celebration after their win, where they offered a prayer and shouted their gratitude before joining together for a meal of pizza and chicken.

Photo Credit: https://www.facebook.com/ricky.ballesteros

Source: https://www.facebook.com/ricky.ballesteros, https://www.facebook.com/TribuLumadBasakanon/, https://www.facebook.com/globaldaegu