Bloom, Baguio! Bloom!: Panagbenga 2011

Thanks to the Department of Tourism (DOT), I got the chance to participate in this year's Panagbenga Festival. This once in a year festival that takes place in Baguio City is known for the variety of flowers used in designing floats of different businesses and organizations throughout the city. For Panagbenga 2011, there were 22 groups in total, of which a good number was comprised of drum and lyre performers, and dancers.

As a first time participant, I had no idea what to expect aside from seeing various floats adorned with flowers. Although there is an assigned theme each year, participants to the float design competition are given freedom in decorating their floats as long as they make the most use out of the flowers that can be found in the area. 

By 7:30 AM, the roadsides were already filled with spectators waiting for the program to commence

Looking for a good spot to setup a tripod was no easy task given that the crowd for Panagbenga 2011 was significantly thick on both sides of the road. I was stationed next to media crew from QTV and even they found it difficult to manage the crowd. We were initially told that the floats would be arriving at 7AM but eventually heard that the event was not going to start till 8AM. By the time that it did, the sun was already up and taking good shots was a chore--made even more difficult thanks to people flooding the view.

My view of things from the circular garden

Things were looking really bad for me as I failed to inform DOT of my intentions of covering the event so I was not given a media pass this time around (as opposed to the Lantern Festival 2010 in Pampanga, and the more recent International Hot Air Balloon Festival that also took place in Pampanga). Luckily, people from DOT-Manila and DOT-CAR spotted me and was able to pull me from the roadside.

Of all the floats that I saw, I would say there were two that really caught my attention. The first float that I particularly liked was the one by Samsung. Aside from boasting of a float that had a big white fox in front, the execution was really well done. The flower
selection was exquisite and everything seemed to blend together nicely. The second float that had a good following was the float made by the Efficascent Oil team. Anyone who has seen the movie Avatar will easily notice that their float was inspired by characters and elements from the film. I just didn't understand the relevance of the Santo Nino statue that stood behind Avatar's Toruk (Great Leonopteryx).

Cute white fox, you are! 

Toruk, the king of Pandoran skies, gracing Efficascent Oil's float 

More float photos (in random order)

What better way to promote businesses than to have celebrities ride the floats? In photo: Empoy Marquez (left) and Danita Paner (right)

Enchong Dee on one of the earlier floats

A very game and cheerful Department of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim greeted the crowd, with mobile phone in hand to take photos of the huge turnout for Panagbenga 2011 

Seeing blue and red. Department of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim (left) waves to the crowd while National Parks Development Committee (NPDC) Director Juliet Villegas (right) smiles at the camera 

The experience from Panagbenga 2011 was surely memorable--in more ways than one. This year's festival taught me well that alarms should be set at least 2 hours before any major Philippine festival if one wishes be able to go to the event's location and find a good spot, be able to have breakfast, and most important of all, take a shower to greet the day with good odor. Whew! 

Oh, I guess also worth mentioning is the longer-than-the-usual trip back to Manila after the festival. What usually takes seven hours on an ordinary Victory Liner bus becomes a hellish 10-hour ride on zigzag roads and dusty highways. Be sure to bring a complete series of shows and extra batteries with you to keep you busy (and entertained) as the ride home can reach epic slowness comparable to a turtle race.

Miscellaneous shots