Baguio Insider

The Baguio Flower Festival (Panagbenga) is now on its 3rd week and we just finished our very popular, ultra colorful, well-attended Parade Weekend: Street Dancing Competition on 24 February and Parade of Floats & Marching Bands on 25 February. The weather cooperated quite nicely and the crowd, though large, was pretty disciplined and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. Since this is the first time since 1987 that a special holiday was not declared to commemorate the EDSA Revolution that toppled Marcos, many potential visitors had to either cut their trip short or cancel altogether. Still the attendance was pretty large, the traffic a little less than past years, and the mood just as festive.

The floats are now on display at Melvin Jones Grandstand at Burnham Park and can be viewed until the close of the festivities on 4 March. What’s up next then? Is there anything worth coming up for still? Well, 26 February is the start of Session Road in Bloom, our week-long street festival, when our commercial center is closed to vehicular traffic, booths are set up in the middle, and visitors are treated to live performances and competitions nightly. Although this event is attended mostly by the locals on weekdays, out-of-town visitors can still sample the different flavors, scents and sounds of Baguio City, as well as check out the different art exhibits and competitions at the Baguio Convention Center and the landscape competitions at Burnham Park. There are still enough activities to ensure that you never spend a dull moment in Baguio during until the Festival closes with a bang on 4 March.

Go Baguio! now has a special section on Panagbenga 2007 and there you will find a collection of photos, videos and articles on the Baguio Flower Festival. I will also include there information on the history of the festival, and the different core events that make up the Panagbenga. You will discover that the Panagbenga is a true community effort designed to “green” Baguio year-round, and does not exist just to entertain visitors for a few weeks in February. It may be accessed directly from this site by clicking the “Panagbenga” tab on the navigation menu above.

One thing that made this year extra special is that my good friend, Connie, was in Baguio with her whole family to accompany her husband, Speedy, on a business trip, and in time to cover the event. I suggest you visit her blogs to check out her take on this year’s Panagbenga. You will find her sites in my blogroll (as if she is not one of the most popular Filipino bloggers and you are not familiar with her blogs).

I would rate this year’s festival a huge success and something worth coming up for. It just gets bigger every year! Of course everyone has their opinion about Panagbenga 2007 but I think all who attended will admit that had a marvelous time in Baguio.

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Editorial:

1. Politicizing the Panagbenga. One thing, though, that left the crowds with a bad taste in the mouth was the participation of the administration’s senatorial slate who joined the festivities only to campaign for the coming elections. They were given special consideration by the organizers and were the second float to be featured.

The candidates were throwing candies to the crowd, like Jamby Madrigal did last 2001. Poor Filipinos, so childishly happy with the crumbs these crooks throw their way. And of course there was Mike Defensor on horseback doing a “Lito Lapid, ” except that the horse was brown and the pony boy had to restrain the horse all the way down Session Road.

Trivia: That horse, by the way, is named Santiago - registered name Head & Tail - the same one I gave up and sold last year because, though beautiful and well-built, he is ill-natured, he kicks and bites and tries to throw his passengers off.

2. Commercializing the Panagbenga. Many noticed also that the floats displayed company and product logos a little too prominently, something that is not disallowed but distracts one from appreciating the floral arrangements so delicately embedded on the floats. I would explain to the Atenara guests that this is because the floats cost hundreds of thousands to produce, much less than the prize money one is to receive. So businesses treat this as a marketing expense and want full exposure during the TV coverage of the event. On top of the logos, most of them had large streamers preceding the floats.

I don’t know what the competition rules say about this. When I used to judge for the Panagbenga all competition entries, from dancers to bands to floats, were anonymous to assure impartiality in determining the winners. Maybe they changed the rules or maybe the ones with logos did not join the competition. But I know how the organizers think: if commercialization is the way to ensure that there are more entries for the benefit of the visitors and the TV coverage, then so be it. One thing for sure, is that the floats are getting grander every year. If there is one thing Filipinos cannot be accused of, it is subtlety.

My suggestion: Set a theme for the float competition, as in the past, and limit the logos and company names to just the streamers.

Even the street dancing competition was not spared. School kids with yellow and blue SM sashes obviously received some funding or sponsorship from the mall. Which is why, to a man, they wore those incongruous things over their costumes. I hope the judges did not give them full points for costume design.

3. Small Floats are Gone. There used to be a small float category. The best one I saw some years ago was a rottweiller pulling a flower-covered wheelchair dressed up as a butterfly with wings that flapped as the wheels turned. And the crowd loved it! One year, I had a horsedrawn floral chuckwagon (a la Wild West) as my restaurant’s entry (I had a steak house, you see) with my waiters and cooks distributing free chili con carne and it was a lot of fun.

Wishful thinking: I’ve been planning to have my siberian huskies pull a flower sled but I have to check if they still accept small float entries. Sometimes the competition entry fees that they use for prize money can be a little to steep, you see. Maybe next year.

One thing you must understand is that to participate in the parade means a whole year’s preparation and a lot of money. And the Baguio folk do this for no other reason except to play a part in the festival’s success. I hope visitors appreciate this.

4. This year’s Festival was very well organized. I congratulate the organizers for a job well done so far. Let’s see if Session Road in Bloom is going to be classy or corny.