Baguio's Panagbenga Flower Festival in full bloom this weekend
MANILA, Philippines — If you’re going up to Baguio this weekend and you encounter unusually heavy traffic on the way up, it is but natural, because it is Panagbenga weekend in the City of Pines.
The highlights of the month-long celebration of the season of blooms, which are the Grand Street Dance Parade and the Grand Float Parade, are taking place this weekend.
As in any festival in any part of the country, the street dance parade is the most highly anticipated because the action and the excitement are there, and the dance movements show the culture and traditions of the local community, particularly if there are any ethnic groups in the area.
As for the Grand Float Parade, which is scheduled today, February 26, nothing can be more colorful, vibrant and creative than Panagbenga Festival’s because it makes use of flowers.
Known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines, Baguio has always been the Flower City of the North and the main source of beautiful cut flowers in Manila. So when Baguio’s city officials toyed with the idea of creating a festival that reflected the city’s history, culture and personality, a flower festival was the first thing that came to mind.
Thus, the Baguio Flower Festival, better known as the Panagbenga Festival, came to be, Panagbenga being a Kankanaey word that means “blooming season.” Baguio is indeed in full bloom in February, and so the floats used for the Grand Float Parade teem with flowers. All giant figures including butterflies, bunnies, and strawberries are made with flowers of different kinds, colors, shapes and sizes.
Flowers in full bloom, a grand parade with awesome floats and colorful costumes, upbeat music and high-spirited dancing. They come together to make the Panagbenga Festival a truly one-of-a-kind festival to look forward to every year.
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