More blooms, events set for Panagbenga festiva

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BAGUIO CITY – The country’s summer capital will bloom soon with more with flowers and greens literally carpeting the city’s central business district.

On its 20th staging in February 2015, Panagbenga — or the Baguio Flower Festival — will feature more blooms and color, according to Anthony De Leon, Baguio Flower Festival Foundation chairman, as  officials launched last week the month-long festival.

The festival was launched here Nov. 17 during regular flag ceremony at city hall grounds with Mayor Mauricio Domogan officiating.

On its 20^th staging, Panagbenga or the Baguio Flower Festival will have traditional activities: children’s parade on Feb. 1, market encounter, street dance parade and flower float parade on the third weekend,  Session Road in Bloom, sports exhibition and competition, Pony Boys’ day, and a grand closing program with fireworks in various venues.

According to Domogan, the opening parade serves as elimination round for the drum and lyre and elementary streetdancing parade category.

The city is allotting P4 million for festival prizes and other expenses, the mayor added.  

The mayor broached the idea of having four street dance categories; elementary, high school, college and open category. The number of participants dwindled due to some participants’ consistent winning of top awards, thus placing them in the hall of fame. Mayor Domogan said fall-of-famers are urged to join the competitions again.

In a press conference after Panagbenga 2014, several suggestions were given for the next festival, including having city and barangay officials, participants from the La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT), out-of-town or regional contingent-guests join with choreographed dancing to the tune of the Panagbenga Hymn, as patterned from the steps of the IbaloiBendian.

Contingents are also encouraged to join with their own flower floats. Invitations for media coverage for the 20^th version of Panagbenga should be floated early, local counterparts said.

Considering that the festival entices more visitors than what could be provided sufficient housing, provisions for parking, housing or camping spaces should be given more thought for Panagbenga 2015, it was urged. It has been observed that more tourists and some locals have opted to set up tents and catch up with Baguio’s February chill.   

“The original concept of community participation — barangays participating in the cleanest and greenest and the flower landscaping competitions will be revived. More students from elementary, high school and college

will also see action in the grand street dancing parade,” said De Leon.

He added that the week-long “Session in Bloom” will not only see the usual selling of local wares, flowers and plants, but will showcase booths with their frontages landscaped from the center of the road to the sidewalks.

“We want to see more flowers and greens, which is the real concept of the flower festival,” De Leon said.

This year’s theme: “20 years of blossoming together,” will showcase the participation of all sectors of the Cordillera community and of groups coming from the different provinces of the country. – With a report from Julie G. Fianza