As early as October 13, 2008, Baguio City has already launched the preparation for next year’s Panagbenga Festival. According to news, Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. who led the ceremony said, “in February next year, visitors of our city will once again notice great improvements of our yearly summer spectacle."
Panagbenga is month-long annual flower festival occurring in Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines. The term is of Malayo-Polynesian origin, meaning "season of blooming". The festival, held during the month of February, was created as a tribute to the city's flowers and as a way to rise up from the devastation of the 1990 Luzon earthquake. The festival includes floats that are decorated with flowers unlike those used in Pasadena's Rose Parade. The festival also includes street dancing, presented by dancers clad in flower-inspired costumes, that is inspired by the Bendian, an Ibaloi dance of celebration that came from the Cordillera region. Aside from economic boosts from tourism, the festival also helped the younger generation of indigenous people to rediscover their culture's old traditions. The indigenous people was first wary with government-led tourism because of the threat that they will interfere or change their communities' rituals. (Source: Wikipedia)
On February 2009, Baguio City will celebrate its 14th Flower Festival. I heard it’s going to be bigger and grander. For tourists who are planning to witness this month-long celebration, better plan ahead and book your hotel or transient accommodation as early as possible. Watch out for my update on the program and schedule of events for this much-awaited festival in the City of Pines. See you there!
Related Post: Baguio Panagbenga Festival 2009 Schedule of Events
1 Comments:
see you all there
-nimpoy
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