BAGUIO CITY (PIA) -- The 2024 Baguio Flower Festival, popularly known as Panagbenga, opened in festive mood with six elementary school contingents lighting up the city’s main thoroughfare with their street dance and drum and lyre performances on Saturday (February 3).

The city government of Baguio, in partnership with the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation Inc., led the official opening of the 2024 Panagbenga Festival  with cultural rites, and an ecumenical prayer at the Panagbenga Park. 

It was followed by the opening parade participated in by contingents from the city’s 128 barangays, the Baguio Tourism Council, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio, the Cordillera Association of Regional Executives, various regional line agencies and other civil society organizations.  

Contingents from Jose P. Laurel Elementary School (ES), Manuel Roxas ES, Lucban ES, Apolinario Mabini ES, and Baguio Central School in Baguio City, and the Tuba Central School in Tuba, Benguet, in their vibrant costumes danced through the city’s main streets to the Melvin Jones grounds for the program, and field demonstration. 

Mayor Benjamin Magalong and Rep. Marquez Go enjoined residents and visitors alike to celebrate the rich culture and creative tapestry of Baguio City and Cordillera that Panagbenga 2024 is showcasing.

“The Panagbenga festival is a time for us to come together as a community, to revel in the beauty of our surroundings, and to celebrate our unique cultures that make up our city. It is time to showcase the talents of our artists, the skills of our craftsmen, and the warmth and hospitality of the people of Baguio,” Magalong said.

“Baguio City welcomes all of you with open arms as we gather here on this vibrant occasion. Today,  we come together not merely to witness the bloom of flowers, and its natural beauty, but to celebrate the rich culture,  and tapestry that defines Baguio City and the Cordillera region,” Go said.

With the theme, “Celebrating Traditions, Embracing Innovations,” Panagbenga 2024 runs until March 3.

Open for the whole duration of the festival are “Panagbengascapes: A Garden Exhibit” at the Melvin Jones football grounds, and the “Baguio Blooms: A Market Encounter” offering products, crafts, and gastronomic treats at the Juan Luna Drive in Burnham Park. 

The much- awaited grand street dancing and grand float parades are set on February 24 and 25, respectively. 

The week-long Session Road in Bloom where Baguio’s main street is closed to traffic to accommodate local micro, small, medium enterprises, and artisans to showcase and sell their products and crafts, is set on February 26  to March 3.

Initiated in 1995 to help Baguio City recover from the devastating effects of the 1990 killer earthquake, Panagbenga which means a season of blooming in the Kankaney dialect, grew to become a symbol of community spirit. It has become the city’s biggest crowd-drawer through the years. (CCD-PIA CAR)