BAGUIO CITY – Organizers of the 28th edition of the Panagbenga, the city’s major crowd-drawing event, decided to move the conduct of the flower festival opening parade on a Saturday closest to February 1, 2024 to lessen the suspension of classes and maximize the presence of visitors to witness the performance of the participating schools.
Frederico S. Alquiros, president and trustee of the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. (BFFFI), said that next year, the Panagbenga grand opening parade will be held on Saturday, February 3, 2024 and that the same parade will be conducted every first Saturday of February in the coming years.
He claimed that the rescheduling of the day of the festival’s grand opening parade to a Saturday will allow student participants to be able to concentrate in their classes during week days without undue interruption and for them to be able to concentrate on their performances during the parade that will serve as a prelude to the conduct of the grand street dance and grand floral parades which are the two major highlights of the festival.
The BFFFI official stated that by holding the grand opening parade on a Saturday, residents and visitors alike will have the chance to witness the sterling performances of the participating contingents as the same will serve as the elimination round for the selected participants who will be joining and competing during the grand street dance parade that will be scheduled on February 24, 2024.
For more than two decades, the Panagbenga grand opening parade is always held every February 1 which often results to the suspension of classes in the elementary and secondary levels to give way for the participating contingents from the different schools to actively participate in the parade and qualify for the festival’s grand street dance parade.
Alquiros stated on a weekend, the participating street dance contingents from the different schools will also be guaranteed of more spectators along the parade route who will be witnessing their performances that will inspire and motivate them to display their best performances to qualify for the limited slots in the grand street dance parade.
The grand opening parade and subsequent field demonstration of participating contingents from various basic education institutions serve as the elimination round for the culminating grand street dance parade where the winners will be judged.
Panagbenga is a Kankanaey term for blossoming of flowers used by former mayor Mauricio G. Domogan to name the city’s major crowd-drawing event that is also timed during the blossoming of flowers in the city and neighboring towns of Benguet. By Dexter A. See
