The Panagbenga Flower Festival in Baguio City

What is the Panagbenga Festival?

The Panagbenga Festival, also often referred to as the Baguio Flower Festival is an annual event occurring in Baguio City, the Summer Capital of the Philippines. It is a month-long event characterized by celebrations and activities that starts on the first week of February till the first week of March.

Panagbenga is a Kankana-ey term that means "a season of blooming" or "a time for flowering". Kankana-ey is the dialect spoken by most of the people living in and around Baguio City.

The Panagbenga Festival started in 1995 as the brainchild of Damaso Bangaoet Jr. and Victor Lim. The festival was formerly called the Baguio Flower Festival but it was changed to Panagbenga in 1996 through the suggestion of Ike Picpican, an archivist and museum curator.

Main Events of the Festival

1) Opening program and parade. The parade will follow the famous Session Road. All contingents will then congregate at the Melvin Jones Football Grounds for a short program.

2) Trade fair and bazaar. Stalls and displays selling all kind of products and services at the Melvin Jones Football Grounds or at the Baguio City Athletic Bowl.

3) Grand festival parade and street dancing competition. This is probably one of the most popular and most anticipated part of the festival, next only to the float parade. This parade will also ply Session Road and ends at the Melvin Jones Football Grounds.

4) Float parade. This is undoubtedly the most lively and anticipated portion of the month-long festival. Floats of all sizes and colors and decorated with flowers take to the streets. This parade is often covered live by the Philippines' biggest national TV and media stations.

5) Session Road in bloom. The famous street is closed to traffic. Stalls selling all types of wares line the whole stretch of the road. Concerts are often staged at the top of the street at night.

	Baguio Vignettes of our Lives Amazon Price: $13.75 List Price: $15.00
	Unknown Soldiers Amazon Price: $1.99

Panagbenga Festival 2012

The 2012 edition of the Panagbenga Festival was officially launched on November 2011. The theme for the upcoming festival is “Community Convergence for a Sustainable Tourism Growth”. A new logo for the event has also been unveiled. The new logo features five individuals colored differently – violet, green, red, orange, and blue. These varying colors symbolize the different sectors converging to make the annual festival's 2012 edition a success.

The main features of the festival will include regular activities like the grand street dancing parade, the float parade, Market Encounter, Session Road in Bloom, and Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom. One activity that has been added for the 2012 edition is a fiesta to be held on February 12.

Source: manilaview.com

Baguio Beans
Baguio beans is a popular term used to refer to the string beans usually raised in the Cordilleras. It's among the region's more well- known vegetables. The provinces of Benguet and Mt. Province in the Cordillera region are the Philippines' top sourc
Places to Visit in Baguio City
Places to Visit in Baguio City Are you planning to take a vacation in Baguio City with your friends or family? Here are a few tips on the best places and corners that Baguio City has to offer. From parks to cafes to shopping malls, the following dest
How to Get to Sagada, Philippines
Directions on how to reach the mountain town of Sagada in Mt. Province, Philippines.