The Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. (BFFFI) wants the accreditation of more float makers in the city and nearby Benguet to contribute in efforts to increase the participation of the government and the private sector in the future staging of the various activities lined up for the annual celebration of the Panagbenga, the city’s major crowd drawing event.
BFFFI Executive Committee Chairman Anthony de Leon said that the foundation will be providing seminars and trainings for free to interested individuals wanting to become future float makers to help in providing available float makers to interested government and private sector entities wanting to present their respective floats in the grand float parade, one of the major highlights of the annual staging of the Panagbenga.
He admitted that there are only three accredited float makers who are capable of contracting and making a maximum of six floats at one time that is why there are limitations on the number of participants that are able to submit their entries to the float parade in time for the deadline.
The BFFFI official claimed that the availability of float makers will also help in significantly reducing the prevailing cost of making floats where the large floats now costs around P700,000 to more than P1 million, the medium float is priced at around P300,000 to more than P500,000 while the small float costs around P100,000 to P200,000 each.
He disclosed that there are many government and private entities that want to present their floats during the annual Panagbenga grand float parade but the limited number of float makers in the city and their inability to ensure the completion of the floats in time for the said activity is a hindrance to the desired increase in participation to the float parade.
De Leon, who is also the general manager of the Baguio Country Club (*BCC), expressed hope that with the upcoming free seminars and trainings that will be provided by the foundation to interested float makers, there will be a significant increase in their number so that more entries will be realized in the future staging of the annual Panagbenga float parade.
For his part, BFFFI Chairman for Life lawyer Mauricio G. Domogan encouraged flower growers in the city and nearby Benguet to avail of the upcoming float making seminars and trainings that will be provided by the foundation for free so that they will include as part of their services float making that will provide them an added source of income, especially in the conduct of similar crowd drawing events not only inside the city but also in other areas in Northern Luzon that may require said services.
He asserted that the foundation will continue to strive in further improving the annual staging of the various highlights of the annual Panagbenga so that residents and tourists will be enticed to patronize the events, especially the grand street dance and grand float parades that serve as the major crowd drawers to allow the local tourist industry to bounce back from the serious negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past three years.
Part of the supply of flowers needed in the making of floats come from the flower growers from the nearby towns of Benguet although the volume is not that enormous as supposedly expected. By Dexter A See
