TACLOBAN CITY – Thousands of spectators started to troop the streets to watch the 23 groups and 12 contingents and floats adorned with colorful designs and dancers wearing stylish costumes for the Sangyaw Festival Parade of Lights 2023 on Thursday, June 29.
The parade of lights for the 134th fiesta celebration of the city will go around the downtown area from Justice Romualdez, Rizal Ave., Imelda Veteranos, Real St., and will end at Magsaysay Boulevard.
They will be judged during the parade of lights and performance at the Balyuan Ampitheater.
The champion will receive P500,000, the first runner-up will take home P300,000, while the second runner-up P200,000.
Joycie Dorado-Alegre, president of Leyte Samar Heritage Society Inc., said the theme for this year's street dance competition is based on the miraculous return of Señor Santo Niño El Capitan of Tacloban after its disappearance in 1889.
The celebration also aims to inculcate, especially to the youth, the importance of the past that brought tradition, history, and culture to the city.
City Mayor Alfred Romualdez signed an executive order suspending classes on all school levels and government work in this city on Thursday, in line with the celebration of the Sangyaw Festival.