"Panagbenga 2012" launches today at the Baguio City Hall grounds

A New Flower Blooms! "Panagbenga 2012: the 17th Annual Baguio Flower Festival" launches today @ The Baguio City Hall grounds.

Through the years, the Panagbenga festival has steadily become the best avenue where Baguio people can shine and innovate what best depicts their community – with everyone co-owning the festival. Panagbenga: A Kankana-ey (dialect widely used by Cordillerans in the Northern Philippine boondocks, specifically people from the Mountain Province and people from the Northern part of the Benguet Province) term meaning “a season for blossoming; a time for blooming.”

More than that, it is that season when the City of Baguio transforms itself from a mere window to Cordilleras, to a vibrant seat of rich ethnic landscape.

Festival Highlights

YOUR 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE…

As in years past, the Panagbenga is all about expectations and surprises; of having spices of
the atypical in the usual, over add-ons that never fail to take anybody’s breath away.

But just to satisfy your curiosity of what Baguio has in store for you in 2011, here’s a rundown of
institutionalized activities that has made the Panagbenga known the world over:

The Market Encounter

(February 1 to March 6)

Ever tried shopping for novelty items in an area flanked by a floral-themed park landscaped by
world-class artists and accented with live music?

Yep, we know the idea sounds like MTV; but really, it is something guaranteed to spice up
anybody’s ramble at the Skating Rink area at the Burnham Park during the Panagbenga
season.

The Market Encounter is a month-long souk where Baguio and its neighboring municipalities
feature the highland’s best flower-related products and cut-flower industry.

It is ‘where all the twines meet’ when it comes to landscapers, horticulturists, and plant
enthusiasts who continue to update themselves with what’s new in the biz through lectures and
contests that seek to bring out the magnificence of already beautiful floral specimens.

As an added perk, the Market Encounter has embraced other products from different parts of
the country to make your shopping experience truly, one of a kind.

Let-a-thousand-flowers-bloom

(February 12)



You don’t need to be a master to paint a picture of flowers and sentient beings. All you need are
brushes and multi-colored paints and voila…

Let-a-thousand-flowers-bloom is where every member of the family can ‘get dirty’ en route their
personal ‘masterpieces’.

It’s a free-for-all venue where the line dividing enthusiasts, artists, and well, those who simply
want to get dirty, is obscured by Baguio’s sense of community in pitching in what they feel about
their environment, expressed through visual art.

Sweethearts can likewise mark Valentine’s Day early through the event, too. After all, it is when
speech is silent does one express the greater depths of one’s sensitivity.

Oh and yes, did we mention everything you need is free plus you get the chance to have your
work immortalized in our books?

Pre-Valentine Event and Fluvial Parade

(February 13)


The Pre-Valentine thingy is a surprise you just have to discover once you’re at Burnham Park to
celebrate with us the day before everybody gets extra… romantic.

On the other hand, the Fluvial Parade is a virtual trip to paradise via Burnham Lake’s boats
adorned with real flowers arranged to depict figures ‘fished’ from fantasy books.

The event is an equally awe-inspiring display of artistry that gives us a glimpse of what’s to
come during the holding of its cousin – the eagerly anticipated Parade of Floats along the central
business district’s main thoroughfares.

The Grand Street Parade

(February 26)

Get ready to be ‘wowed’ by the best street dancers garbed as flowers of different sizes and
vibrant colors.

Prepare as the marriage of highland ganzas (gongs) and pulsating southern drums take control
of your bodies, making you sway free of care and full of life to that unique Baguio beat accented
by the renowned Panagbenga Hymn – Maestro Macario Fronda’s “Tribute to the Cordilleras.”

Top-billed by Baguio’s kids, which journalist Peppot Ilagan referred to as “The greatest
reminders from God that the world must go on,” the Grand Street Parade is a showcase of the
Benguet Ibalois’ Bendayan (or Bendian) dance plus more, along the city’s main thoroughfares.

The Grand Float Parade

(February 27)

Spending millions for the creation of floats that blurs reality and imagination might be crazy. But
giving people an experience they forever will treasure is priceless.

Get ready for another mind-blowing display of giant moving gardens and fantasy characters
brought to life using real flowers and assorted ornamental plants.

It’s time to get into the season’s groove; time to witness the Panagbenga’s in full splendor as
the Baguio community speaks a thousand words through flowers that breath life to every kids’
fantasy accompanied by the best drum and lyre and drum and bugle corps.

Session Road in Bloom

(February 28 to March 6)

Experience Baguio’s best known thoroughfare ‘pedestrianized’ for a full week after the holding
of the grand float parade.

Be one with us in enjoying a breath of fresh air while taking pleasure in dining at sidewalk cafes;
marveling at flower carts and displays of rare and colorful ornamental plants; relaxing your eyes
with plant arrangements adorning shops; and a host of entertaining shows along Session Road.

It happens only once a year…

THERE ARE MORE… we’re just giving you a glimpse, remember?

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