Daryl Jackson and Baguio’s changing Halloween tradition

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — For more than a decade, Daryl Jackson has brought Michael Jackson’s signature dance moves to Baguio’s Halloween celebrations, becoming a familiar performer in a public tradition now facing a possible change of direction.

Jackson was among the featured performers at the Baguio Halloween Parade in 2025, where organizers listed him alongside the 2600 Moonwalkers and other performers.

The parade was held on Session Road as part of the city’s Halloween activities.

Now, as Baguio considers replacing its public horror-themed parade with a proposed Fantasy Festival, the kind of performance associated with Jackson’s appearances is becoming part of a broader question: how much of the city’s established Halloween tradition should carry into a new, more family-oriented public event.

The Baguio Zombie Walk traces its beginnings to 2011, according to accounts of the event’s organizers and city discussions.

The concept later developed into a broader Halloween parade, with organizers expanding the range of characters beyond zombies.

The 2025 parade was described by organizers as a continuation of that tradition after a break in public staging.

Jackson’s presence became part of that visual history through his Michael Jackson tribute performances, particularly routines associated with Thriller.

A composite of his performances supplied for this report shows appearances identified as taking place in Baguio in 2012, 2024 and 2025.

The available public record more firmly documents his role in the 2025 parade: an account of the event lists Daryl Jackson among its featured performers, while a separate biographical source identifies him as a Filipino Michael Jackson tribute artist and links him to a Thriller performance during the 2025 Baguio Halloween Parade.

A tradition under review

The question facing Baguio is no longer simply whether Halloween-themed performances will continue.

In September, the City Council considered concerns raised about the city’s horror-themed public festivities.

The discussion led organizers to propose a shift from the Baguio Horror Festival concept toward a Fantasy Festival, with a new set of standards for a proposed public parade.

The proposed Fantasy Festival would broaden the range of permitted characters to include Filipino folklore and mythology, literature, fairy tales, superheroes, anime, films and television, video games, science fiction, historical and adventure characters, animals, professions and original creations.

Supernatural characters would not automatically be excluded.

The proposed rules specifically allow monsters, witches, ghosts, vampires, zombies, skeletons, aswang, kapre and other mythical beings, provided they are presented in a non-graphic and family-appropriate manner.

That distinction is important to the proposal.

The guidelines say the intention is not to prohibit fantasy characters simply because they are dark, unusual or supernatural, but to regulate how they are presented in a crowded public setting.

From gore to guardrails

The proposed costume standards would prohibit nudity or exposed private areas, blood and gore, exposed organs, dismemberment and realistic wounds.

Real or functional weapons, fire, pyrotechnics, chemicals and other hazardous effects would also be prohibited.

Costumes would have to be suitable for crowded public spaces and should not pose unreasonable risks to participants, spectators or traffic personnel.

A pre-parade Costume Check is proposed, with organizers authorized to require modifications or deny participation when a costume fails to meet the agreed standards or raises safety or public-order concerns.

The proposal also calls for a Costume Check and Community Review Committee made up of representatives from government, religious and faith-based communities, creative and cultural sectors, education and other stakeholders. Its role would be to assess compliance, rather than judge artistic quality or personal expression.

For a performer whose public image is closely associated with one of the most recognizable supernatural dance productions in popular culture, the distinction is notable.

The proposed rules do not single out Thriller, zombies or other supernatural characters.

Instead, they establish standards intended to determine whether a particular presentation is suitable for the proposed parade.

Culture as part of the costume rules

The proposed framework also places cultural representation alongside safety.

Traditional Filipino attire and indigenous cultural elements would be allowed when presented respectfully.

Costumes that mock, demean or misrepresent a living culture or community would not be permitted.

The guidelines list Filipino folklore and mythology among the suggested categories, placing local cultural material alongside international fantasy, animation, popular culture and original characters.

City Tourism Officer Alec Mapalo said during the Sept. 29 committee discussion that guidelines developed for the city’s cosplay activities had been formulated through consultation with cosplayers and buskers and could be incorporated into the proposed festival rules, according to the City Council’s account of the meeting.

The proposed rules remain subject to revision.

A permit is still required

The proposed Fantasy Parade would also have to clear a separate permitting process.

Atty. Melchor Rabanes of the City Legal Office said the permit previously obtained for the Halloween Parade would not cover the proposed Fantasy Parade concept and that organizers would need to secure a separate permit, according to the council’s Sept. 29 account.

Police representatives said they would assist with public order and safety, including crowd control, if the proposed parade proceeds.

The Committee on Creativity, chaired by Councilor Vladimir Cayabas, is expected to consolidate the guidelines into its report to the full City Council.

The earliest the council could act on that report is Oct. 12, according to the council’s account.

The council has yet to approve or reject the proposed Fantasy Festival and its public parade.

For Baguio’s Halloween tradition, the outcome could determine whether the city’s public celebrations retain the visual language that has defined events such as the Zombie Walk — including performers such as Jackson — or move toward a broader festival built around fantasy, cosplay, folklore and family-oriented creative expression.

For now, the proposal leaves room for both the familiar and the fantastical: zombies and mythical creatures remain possible, but their presentation would be subject to new safety, cultural-sensitivity and public-order standards.

The council’s pending decision will determine whether that proposed balance becomes the next chapter of Baguio’s Halloween tradition.