2010 Baguio Panagbenga Festival

2010-01-11T04:24:00.000-08:00

This year, Baguio City will be celebrating the 15th staging of Panagbenga Festival 2010 which is also popularly known as the Baguio Flower Festival.

This is one of the most colorful festival in the country with their grand floral street dance and floral float parade. Not only that, it is one of the most visited festival as well for it is just a couple of hours away from the Metro.

2010 Baguio Panagbenga Festival (Flower Festival 2010 Schedule)

This year, Baguio City will be celebrating the 15th staging of Panagbenga Festival 2010 which is also popularly known as the Baguio Flower Festival.

This is one of the most colorful festival in the country with their grand floral street dance and floral float parade. Not only that, it is one of the most visited festival as well for it is just a couple of hours away from the Metro.

The Festival theme this year is : “Celebrating 15 years of Festival Excellence.” The 15th Panagbenga Festival promises to be bigger this time especially after the calamity it has gone a couple of months ago (Typhoon Ondoy & Pepeng). Indeed the festival will be the grandest way of showing to the world how resilient the people of Baguio are, that they can stand up, move forward and continue to live happy and colorful life after the storms.

Here’s the complete list of Baguio Flower Festival schedule for 2010 :

PANAGBENGA 2010

Calendar of Major Activities

November 16 - Launch of Panagbenga 2010
February 1 - Opening Parade
The parade signals the start of the Panagbenga. This will be participated by a representative contingent of volunteers. The parade will be followed by a short opening program, together with competitions between drum and lyre including street dancing contingent among elementary students.
February 13 – Chinese New Year
February 12-14 – Legarda Rocks
February 14 – Fluvial Parade
February 14 - Camelot on the Lake
February 20 – Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom
February 20-22 – PMA Homecoming
February 27 – Grand Street Parade
Grand Festival Parade and Street Dancing Competition
February 28 - Grand Float Parade
The parade opens with a shower of rose petals along Session Road while marching bands played lively tunes that sets the mode for the parade. Colourful costumes and lively dance numbers come next followed by cleverly- crafted, vibrant and multicoloured floats made entirely from flowers of every kind.
February 26-28 – Abanao Nights
February 1 – March 7 – Market Encounter (Trade Fair and Bazaar)
March 1-7 – Session Road in Bloom
Flower and related stalls together with side walk cafés and food outlets shall be set-up along Session Road that will be closed to vehicles during the occasions. Street and musical entertainers shall be performing in selected areas in Session Road. This activity shall be organized and managed by the tourism sector of the city.
March 6 Saturday – Pony Boys Day

Travel Advisory

2010-01-09T06:52:00.000-08:00

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.

This section will give you the most up-to-date ways of getting to the City of Pines, including recent changes in the usual routes folks have been accustomed to passing in the past decades.

HOW TO GET TO BAGUIO CITY

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.

This section will give you the most up-to-date ways of getting to the City of Pines, including recent changes in the usual routes folks have been accustomed to passing in the past decades.

Five major highways lead to Baguio City:

A government unit independent from the province, Baguio City is located completely within Benguet, and is the gateway to the vast Cordillera region of Northern Philippines.

It is accessible from various mountain highway systems that folks call the "zigag" (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.

So now you see that there are really more than two ways to get to Baguio City, depending on where you are coming from. Halsema and Nueva Vicaya Roads approach the Summer Capital of the Philippines from the northeast, while Naguilian Road, approaches from the north, while Kennon and Marcos Highway approach the city from the south.

It is precisely this route that we will discuss next, as it is the one most traversed by folks coming from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. You will see how easy it actually is to get to Baguio City these days.

-----------------------------------------------

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

North Luzon Expressway - Total toll fees from Balintawak (pay at Bocaue gate) to SCTEX (pay at Dau gate) is about Php180.00 for a sedan.

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

ALERT! Rosario Bridge now passable :)

A Bailey bridge has been built to bypass the damaged section of the bridge connecting Sison, Pangasinan to Rosario, La Union (which is the entrance to Marcos Highway & Kennon Road).

Folks will no longer have to pass Urdaneta-Damortis to get to Rosario, La Union.

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.

(But that's just me. I prefer night travel.)

Baguio Transient Home - About Baguio

2010 Baguio Panagbenga Festival

Travel Advisory