Baguio's Panagbenga Festival: My Favorite Unsual Festival

The Panagbenga Festival (also known as the Baguio's Flower Festival) was conceived in 1995 when Baguio, the Philippines' favorite summer hideaway, was still picking up from a devastating earthquake it experienced five years earlier.

To raise the people's morale a huge annual month-long festival was planned to celebrate the beautiful flowers of Baguio.

That was 15 years ago. Now, Panagbenga is a major tourist attraction in the Philippines and the No. 1 festival in the country. It attracts one million domestic and foreign tourists annually.

Panagbenga, which starts promptly each Feb.1, is one month of non-stop excitement: rock concerts, fireworks, art contests, trade fairs, kite festivals, street dancing, street theater, at least four parades, tribal dances and so much more.

During the celebration, a king and a queen of the festival are selected based on the votes of the crowd and crowned Mr. and Mrs. Panagbenga, and at the end of the month, the grand float parade is held.

The grand float parade leaves everyone breathless because this is where imaginations are really put to the test, and no expense is spared on the floats.

Sometimes as many as 27 floats will compete and tremendous imagination, energy and taste is a must on each float.

It is one thing to see the flowers of Baguio in their habitat, but if you never have, seeing them being used to make so many breathtakingly beautiful floats, one after another, will drive home the point big time that Panagbenga is truly the country's festival of choice.

Let me tell you something about me. I hate crowds. I also hate festivals, particularly because I hate being on the streets in the afternoon heat; but Baguio has great weather for a festival, and the crowds may be trinormous along Session Road and Burnham Park (where most Panagbenga festival events take place), but somehow you don't get bothered by it. Instead, you just get swept away by the excitement of it all.