BAGUIO CITY – The local government and the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. (BFFFI) agreed to hold a special edition of Panagbenga this year which is slated to start on March 6, 2022 to help in gradually and safely reviving the heavily impacted local economy.
The theme of this year’s festivities is ‘Panagbenga 2022: Let Hope Bloom’ which signifies that there is hope for recovery from the heavy impact inflicted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to the global economy.
On March 6, 2022, the festival will open with the conduct of the Panagbenga Open Landscaping Exhibition dubbed ‘Gardenscapes” that will run through until March 26, 2022 where residents and visitors will be able to witness the landscaping talents of neophyte and veteran landscapers in the city.
The traditional Handog ng Panagbenga sa Pamilya Baguio will be held on March 13, 2022 which will be followed by the Panagbenga Dance Competition on March 20, 2022.
On March 21-27, 2022, the Session road in Bloom will be held along the city’s main thoroughfare but in a limited scenario in compliance to the prevailing implementation of the minimum public health standards.
Part of the Panagbenga attractions in the city is the Baguio Country Club Blooms Garden exhibit where the same will be featuring the Japanese and Korean themes landscape at the former site of the famous Christmas Village along South Drive.
Further, the local government will be re-opening the Botanical Garden along Leonard Wood road to add up to the nature attractions in the city for residents and visitors to appreciate.
On March 19-20, 2022 Baguio city will be playing host to the 19th stage of the Ronda Pilipinas where hundreds of cyclists will be arriving in the city for the famous criterium.
On March 25-26, 2022, golf enthusiasts will be joining the traditional Flower Tee Golf at the Baguio Country Club.
The simple activities for this year’s Panagbenga festival will commence on March 27, 2022 with a closing firework display.
Former Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan was the one who gave the name ‘panagbenga’ for the said festival because the same is being done simultaneously with the blossoming of flowers in February to March. It started in 1995 through the efforts of the late Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) vice president lawyer Damaso Bangaoet who envisioned the said festival as a simple community activity to draw the interest of tourists during the lean tourism months in the city before it grew into the city’s major crowd drawing event to date.
The term ‘panagbenga’ is a Kankanaey term for blossoming of flowers which was seen by former mayor Domogan as the most appropriate term for the crowd drawing event that gained international recognition during his time and when the festival was listed as the only festival in the country that was included in the elite list of the International Festivals and Events Association.
The Panagbenga festival also gained recognition from festival organizers in the country as the most disciplined and most organized festival conducted throughout the archipelago which paved the way for the same to become the most attended gathering during this time of the year.
