“Panagbenga“ : Flower festival in the summer capital of the Philippines -- Baguio City

“Panagbenga“ : Flower festival in the summer capital of the Philippines -- Baguio City

Who wouldn’t love to see flowers blooming beautifully? Specially for us who live in the Western world where winter is still on and we have to weather the cold season, memories of the flower festival in the Philippines always make me smile and want to be back and visit the beautiful country --- "The Philippines”.

Where is Baguio City, Philippines?

Philippines is a country located south of Taiwan, north of Malaysia, and separated from Vietnam to the west by the South China Sea in Asia. Philippines is located at South-East Asia, near the Pacific Ocean. It has 7,107 islands and it is subdivided into three large island groups namely Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Baguio City is located in the northern tip of the country in the Luzon area.

Baguio City is considered the summer capital of the Philippines, the reason being that it is colder there than the rest of the country (cold comparing to the generally hot weather conditions during summer in the Philippines) that gives sense of relief to the humid and hot weather experienced by other parts of the country in the Philippines. It lies in a mountainous region down the northern part of the Philippines. Like any Southeast Asian country, Philippines has a temperate climate, tropical in simpler terms, where you enjoy two seasons, the wet and the dry season. Baguio City enjoys a cold weather throughout the year, and it is a spot for tourists and people to visit during the really hot season. The people would like to cool off in the area and enjoy the weather at 12C. Panagbenga festival is a way to showcase the blooms and the beauty of the city.

“Panagbenga” or the flower festival is month-long annual flower show of display and festival in Baguio City and is celebrated every February. The terms simply means -- “season of blooming” and that it is of “Malayo Polynesian” origin. The festival, held during the month of February, was created as a tribute to the city's flowers and as a way to rise up from the devastation of the 1990 Luzon Earthquake, yes we have that too, intensity 7.7 Richter scale. Every year every February the month long festival is celebrated, and the culmination is the float parade.

The flower festival in Baguio City is usually awesome display of flowers and other related festivities.

I will not bore you with many explanations just look at some of the photos here and be patient with the videos.