THE INDAK-INDAK sa Kadayawan 2026 grand showdown on August 16 will not be held at the usual San Pedro Square.
“For the very first time, the grand showdown is heading to the Davao Coastal Road-Tulip Drive,” the Davao City’s Kadayawan Festival announced on Thursday, July 23.
Meanwhile, the street dance competition will still follow the traditional route from Roxas Avenue all the way to San Pedro Square.
The Davao City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) announced last Wednesday during the Kadayawan media launch that this year’s budget for the Kadayawan Festival is P68 million.
CTOO head Willenito Tormis Jr. said Indak-Indak will have an accumulated P8 million prize, where the open category grand winner will bring home P1.5 million, and the school-based grand winner wins P1 million.
“We are trying to make it big this year. We are trying to cater to all Davaoeños. Daghang nagaingon ang Kadayawan para sa VIP lang, so this year, pangitaan namo og paagi para daghang makakita,” Tormis said.
The number of contenders for the open category has increased to 10, a mix of comebacking champions and first-time contenders.
The registered contenders in the open category are from Pantukan, Davao de Oro; Mati and Tarragona from Davao Oriental; Mainit, Surigao del Norte; Kapalong and Asuncion from Davao del Norte; Bislig City, Surigao del Sur; Sto. Niño and Polomolok from South Cotabato.
However, the number of contenders for the Davao City school-based category has decreased to five.
These are Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School; Lapu-Lapu Elementary School; Don Enrique NHS; Sta. Ana NHS; and San Roque Central ES.
He attributed the decrease in number to the Department of Education (DepEd) order directing their students to have less time in schools due to recent incidents of violence inside schools.
Tormis said the change of venue has been coordinated with the Davao City Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO) for security and order, including traffic and deployment of security personnel,
PSSO head Angel Sumagaysay said that about 19,000 integrated safety and security personnel would be deployed for the month-long festivities, with a daily deployment of 700 personnel to ensure a zero-incident festivity.
