Baguio City - The most awaited festival in the City of Pines ‘Baguio City’ gets started this February and the schedule for the Panagbenga 2018 was released to the public.

With the theme “Celebration of Culture and Creativity”, they envision the 23rd serving of the Baguio Flower Festival to focus and showcase the creativity and culture of the Cordillera region. Baguio City was named as one of UNESCO’s Creative City for crafts and folk arts in 2017 joining the 180 network of creative cities.

This month-long festival is celebrated as a tribute to the beautiful city of Baguio on its manner of rising again after the devastation caused by the earthquake of 1990.

A Kankanaey term, Panagbenga means “a season of blooming.” This famous festival comes with many events including a dancing parade and band exhibition. Decoration Ideas includes the following items to glorify the beauty of Panagbenga Festival 2018: Boats, props, flowers, costumes, dance costumes, and street decorations.

The most striking feature of the Panagbenga Festival is the people of Baguio city, who welcomes everyone to get enchanted with the beautiful and breath-taking display of floats fully decorated with flowers. Another unusual feature of the festival is the street dancing including people wearing flower themed costumes.
No festival can ever be completed without the addition of food served, and same is true for Panagbenga festival. During this festive season, the restaurants charge people only P 200 to 300.
The festival will kick off with an opening ceremony on the first day of February. The highlights of the celebrations will be the Grand Street Dance Parade and Grand Float Parade that will happen on February 24 and 25, respectively.

Below is the schedule for the main and traditional events of the festival. This schedule doesn't include events and activities organized by parties other than City Hall and the official festival organizers.

Panagbenga 2018

Schedule of Traditional Events

Things to remember in Panagbenga Festival:
If you intend to attend this festival, here are few things which you should keep in mind before making any plans.
1. Weather check: Make sure to prepare your baggage according to the weather conditions of the Baguio city.
2. Accommodation reservation: Due to heavy tourist flow, you might get difficulty in finding a place to stay so if you have no other option of staying you better make hotel/ house reservations as early as possible.
3. Guide: When you intend to attend any particular festival, you must be aware of all the do’s and don’ts of the particular place. Furthermore, you should be aware of the tourist attractions to save time
4. Supplies: Get your supplies early from the market.
5. Safety: Be aware of personal and your things safety among the huge crowd.
6. Bring an umbrella or raincoat whether or not it could be raining.
7. Do not forget your cameras and try the local foods and delicacies. Just have fun and savor the experience.

How to Get to Baguio City?

Baguio City is about 240 kilometers from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The entry point to the natural and cultural wonders of the Cordillera Region, and situated in the midst of mountains, hills and valleys, the City of Pines is accessible by land and by air.

Five major highways lead to Baguio City:

It is accessible from various mountain highway systems that folks call the "zigzag" (but mostly this refers to Kennon road, the most popular of them all) that snake through scenic mountains and hills, following the courses of rivers and traversing bridges, to get to that interesting little place affectionately called the City of Pines.

1. Kennon Road has an entry point at Rosario, La Union, the old road that visitors from Manila and places south of the City of Pines love to take.

2. Marcos Highway has two entry points at Rosario and Agoo, both in La Union, and is favored for its wider lanes .

3. Naguilian Road is officially named Quirino Highway although no one really calls it that. Naguilian Road has an entry point at Bauang, La Union and is the road taken by travelers coming from northern Luzon provinces.

4. Halsema Road, passing through La Trinidad Valley - connects Benguet to Mountain Province (Sagada) and Ifugao (Banaue) and other places to the northeast.

5. Baguio-Nueva Vizcaya Road - connects Benguet to Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya, and is the newest access for those coming from provinces to the east of the city and is a great alternative to Halsema Road.

Manila to Baguio City: Easy as 1-2-3

1. NLEX-SCTEX

From Manila take the NLEX up to Exit 85, to get to the SCTEX. Shift to the right lane and head for Baguio via Tarlac (going straight takes you to Subic). Drive the length of the SCTEX until the Tarlac City exit where you will turn left to a country road. Drive about 10km more, following road signs until you reach MacArthur Highway. +/- 120km total

2. MacARTHUR HIGHWAY

Turn right to MacArthur Highway, pass through the remaining four towns of Tarlac province, and the length of Pangasinan province making no turns, till you reach Rosario, La Union. +/- 90km

3. "ZIGZAG"

Turn right at the Rosario junction to Kennon Road or go a little further (about 500 meters more) & turn right to the new entrance to Marcos Highway. +/- 30km/40km

How long does it take to get up to Baguio?

By private transport, the trip from Manila usually takes just 4-5 hours during the day, and sometimes less at night. After all, the Summer Capital of the Philippines is just 240-250 km away.

Night travel is much faster because there is less vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and fewer slow-moving public utility tricycles in the lowland provinces of Central Luzon plying their routes at night. Plus it is easier to overtake when you can see the headlights of oncoming vehicles.