The conduct of the 28th edition of the Panagbenga or the flower festival has become bigger and better amidst the negative impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted to the cancellation of most of the crowd drawing events for three years.
The travel revenge that was experienced by the world in the middle of 2022 up to last year allowed some of the country’s crowd drawing events, including the Panagbenga, to rebound and slowly bring back their vibrance right after the pandemic.
Panagbenga organizers claimed that some of the flower festival highlights were able to draw the crowd similar to pre-pandemic levels while some of the activities need further innovations to bring back the magnitude of spectators to allow the sustained growth of the local tourism industry.
Anthony de Leon, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. (BFFFI), pointed out that the travel revenge already reached its peak this year that is why the foundation will continue to work on further innovations in the conduct of the festival events to continue making it bigger and better every year like what happened this year.
He added that the expectations of the organizers in terms of participation from the concerned sectors, the crowd and even the residents and visitors who patronized the various events were exceeded but there is still room for improvement in the future conduct of the festival.
For his part, BFFFI president Frederico Alquiros stipulated that the participation in the cultural dance competition and the float parade was encouraging and exceeded their expectations.
He noted that the organizers were expecting around 15 to 18 contingents that will be joining the cultural dance competition but there were 24 contestants who signified their intention to join where 12 groups were last minute registrants aside from two groups that tried to make some last minute confirmation.
Alquiros explained that the organizers decided not to include the cultural dance groups in the grand streetdance parade because it might take long for the parade to be completed due to the increase in the number of participating contingents, thus, it was decided that the cultural dance competition be given a separate date which was February 18, 2024 to highlight the importance of cultural preservation among the people during the performances.
The BFFFI official emphasized that the significant increase in the floats that participated in the grand float parade where it reached around 33 floats composed of non-competing and competing ones is a testament of the confidence of both the government and private entities to the exposure that is provided by the said event.
However, he agreed to the earlier observation of BFFFI Chairman for Life and former Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan that the crowd during the grand street dance parade did not yet equal the crowd during the similar parade before the pandemic.
According to him, the foundation will work hard to bring back the colleges to actively participate in the future conduct of the grand street dance parade to provide added entertainment to the crowd who want to witness their superb street dance and ground demonstration performances.
Alquiros said that the organizers understand the predicament of the colleges and universities as some of the higher education institutions are still organizing their respective marching bands after the easing up of the community quarantine restrictions and that the BFFFI is hoping that there will be increased participation from them by next year.
Domogan asserted that the crowd during the grand float parade is also most similar to the crowd during the conduct of the same parade prior to the pandemic while the crowd during the grand street dance parade did not yet equal the crowd during the same parade prior to the wrath of the COVID-19 that is why the BFFFI will work on how to entice residents and visitors to patronize the Panagbenga highlights in the future.
Last February 24, six drum and lyre contingents from the various elementary schools in the city and seven groups inside and outside the city displayed their sterling and dynamic performances during the drum and lyre competition and festival dance contest of the Panagbenga grand street dance parade that started at Upper Session road and commenced at the Melvin Jones football field.
Subsequently, some 33 beautifully decorated floats from various government agencies and private companies were paraded from Upper Session road up to the Melvin Jones football field during the grand floral parade last February 25, 2024.
The grand streetdance parade and the grand floral parade are the two major highlights of the annual staging of the Panagbenga that entice huge crowds that gather along the parade route to witness the performances and the beautifully decorated floats.
The 29th edition of the Panagbenga next year will run from February 1 to March 2, 2025 depending on the schedule of the annual alumni homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
Panagbenga is the only festival in the country that has been included in the elite list of the International Festivals and Events Association, a prestigious organization of international caliber festivals around the world.
Panagbenga is a Kankanaey term for blossoming of flowers and it was suggested by former mayor Domogan to be the name of the flower festival because it is being held during the months where flowers blossom. By Dexter A. See
