Baguio City (aka The Summer Capital of the Philippines) is one of the key cities of our country. It is also one of the favorite tourist destination in the archipelago because of its cool temperature (reaches til 4 degree Celsius) and wonderful tourist spots such as Burnham Park, Mines View Park, Camp John Hay, Wright Park and the prestiguous Philippines Military Academy.

The city celebrates its flower festival called Panagbenga (pronounced as pa-nag-beng-ga) every February til March. Panagbenga was conceived on 1995 however, its first parade of floats made of fresh flowers was held on 1997. Panagbenga uses the sunflower as its symbol. It is also similar with the USA's Rose Parade however, Panagbenga is composed of two parades which starts at Upper Session Rd. down to Athletic Bowl. This year's fluvial parade was held last Saturday (February 25) and on the next day, the drum & lyre and street dancing competitions. The street dancing competition showcases the rich culture of the Cordillerias particularly their cultural dance called cañao (pronounced as kan-yaw. The dancers wear their ethnic customes and dance gracefully with the beat of gongs. Below are sample snapshots that you can expect in these parades:

	Click the Images to Enlarge

Check out the links below for additional information about Baguio City and Panagbenga:
Baguio City's Official Website
Panagbenga 2006 Schedule of Activities

MY THOUGHT --> I considered Baguio City as my second home which is just one and half hour ride via Kennon Rd. from my hometown Pozorrubio. I spent my college life there in Saint Louis University (SLU). In my four years stay in the city, the lowest temperature I felt was 5C...brrrr, that was cold! And of course, I never missed the Panagbenga celebration! Me and my friends or relatives often visit the city and wait for the parade patiently at the Session Rd. (despite the huge crowd) to see these fabulous creations and watch the dancers dance canao with their  flesh-revealing ethnic customes  personally. But sometimes there are unavoidable circumstance and we can't go to Baguio, we just watch it in the television broadcasted live. Baguio City became popular since early 2000s with  ukay-ukay, stores that sells second-hand goodies such as clothes, bags and shoes. Philippines has a lot of festivals that attract tourists both international and local to be a part of the optimistic and jolly celebration of Filipinos despite the difficulties the country is experiencing nowadays such as economic and political crisis. I believe that tourism makes the Philippines earn revenues and proves the rich heritage of its country men and the true Filipino spirit: tough, hospitable, jolly and a fighter. Oh well, that makes Filipinos one of the happiest people in the world.... I'm one of them!

P.S. Look what I have found! Well, fahionistas out there check this out----->OSCAR Fashion Dos and Don'ts

~ UPDATES: Panagbenga 2006 Pictures courtesy of Russel Ariola ~
I was not able to watch the parades in person but in national television broadcasted live. Anyway, thanks to Russel for dropping by my journal. He got snapshots of the Panagbenga 2006 and he allowed me to post some of my picks here. Thanks Russell!

February 25:

See more pictures here -->February 25 pictures

February 26:

See more pictures here -->February 26 pictures