Panagbenga Flower Festival 2016 Schedule of Activities
Every year, Baguio City just not boasts off its natural beauty and its cold climate all year round. It also showcases a spectacle of flowers in which the locals celebrate their bountiful harvests during this season of blossoming – that is Panagbenga 2016.
Panagbenga: A mardi gras of flowers and a celebration of life
In honor of this tradition, the City have then founded a festival that will best culminate this celebration in the highlands. Panagbenga /pa-nag-buh-NGA/ as it is modernly called – also known as the Baguio Flower Festival – is a solemn and celebratory feast happening every February (to March) in the City of Pines.
SM City Baguio’s “Nature” Participating Float (2015)
Baguio Country Club’s “Rio” Participating Float (2013) (Photo by Ivan Gedrick Lopez)
Came from a Kankana-ey origin, “Panagbenga” is the grand showcase of flowers that is sourced directly from the farmers in the highlands of the Cordilleras. This comes to show that Baguio City is not just the Summer Capital but is also a haven for flower aficionados. This is also a way to attract tourists from around the world after the devastating 1990 killer earthquake that hit Luzon.
This nationally-known festival is not just attracting local tourists but international travelers as well. Everyone just gets fascinated by how locals of Baguio craft indigenous and intricate pieces from flowers, and is used to be paraded around the City’s streets. This is the City’s way of showing its diversity through the cultural richness, regional identity, and sustenance of tourism ‘through unification efforts for environmental concerns.‘
Photo by Rina Paula Burgos (as featured on Manila Bulletin)
Panagbenga 2016: Bless the Children with Flowers
With the theme: “Bless the Children with Flowers,” it only means that The Baguio Flower Festival Foundation Incorporated (BFFFI) is serious of innovating ways on how to share this modern tradition to the generations to come. This year, too, the organizers will be introducing innovations to the festivities, a notable one is the use of potted flowers instead of straight cut flowers to the competing and participating floral floats (50/50). This will then have a lesser cost to the participants that will partake in the floral float parade. The aim of this innovation is also to donate the potted flowers to individuals who are interested in taking care of such – ‘furtherance’ as it is called.
With Mr. Macario Fronda, Composer of Panagbenga’s “Tribute to the Cordillerans” Theme Song (Look for me!)
Panagbenga 2015
So here you go, here is the official list of schedules lined up for this year’s Panagbenga:
| Date | Event | Venue |
| February 1 (8:00 a.m.) | Grand Opening Parade:
Drum and Lyre Dance Competition – Elementary Division |
Panagbenga Park, Session Road, Magsaysay Avenue, Harrison Road,
Melvin Jones Football Grounds |
| Concert | SM City Baguio Atrium | |
| February 1 – March 6 | Baguio Blooms Exhibition and Exposition | Lake Drive – Burnham Park |
| February 8 | Chinese Spring Festival | City-Wide |
| February 14 | Handog ng Panagbenga sa Pamilya Baguio – Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom
– Panagbenga 2015 Kite-Flying Challenge – Panagbenga Variety Show – Fireworks Display |
Melvin Jones Grandstand and Football Grounds |
| February 15-17 | School-based Landscaping Competition (Judging) | City Schools |
| TBA | Barangay Clean and Green Landscaping Competition (Judging) | All Barangays |
| February 19 | Floral Arrangement Competition (Judging) | Baguio City National High School |
| February 19-21 | PMA Grand Alumni Homecoming | PMA – Loakan Road |
| *February 27 (8:00 a.m.) | Grand Street Dancing Parade | Panagbenga Park, Session Road, Magsaysay Avenue, Harrison Road, Athletic Bowl |
| *February 28 (8:00 a.m.) | Grand Float Parade | DILG, Session Road, Harrison Road, Athletic Bowl |
| February 27-28 | Sponsors’ and Exhibitors’ Day | Athletic Bowl |
| *February 29 – March 6 | Session Road in Bloom | Session Road |
| March 5 | Pony Boys’ Day | Wright Park |
| *March 6 | Panagbenga Closing Ceremonies and Grand Fireworks Display | Athletic Bowl and Various Areas over Baguio’s Central Business District |
Read more: “5 things you should know about Baguio’s Panagbenga Festival“
About Aldrick 'chiki' Agpaoa
2 thoughts on “Panagbenga Flower Festival 2016 Schedule of Activities”
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I always enjoy Baguio’s Panagbenga. The floats are really fascinating. If there’s something I hate about February, the streets of and hotels in Baguio are so full. But then again, the floats and parade could all make up for that little concern.
Hi, Berlin! Oo nga po! If the City could just do anything to make it better for everyone during this season. Hope to see you again on Panagbenga 2017! Hope you enjoyed this year’s festivities! 🙂