BAGUIO CITY — A river of petals and pride swept through the Summer Capital as the highlight of the 30th year of the Baguio Flower Festival (Panagbenga) reached its most dazzling Grand Flower Float Parade yet this weekend.
Session Road blazed with chrysanthemums, sunflowers, and orchids as thousands cheered a milestone edition, anchored on the theme “Blooming Without End.”
At the head of the flower float parade, the City Government of Baguio set the tone with horses cloaked in white and maroon mums pulling a regal wooden carriage — a nod to the city’s horse-drawn past and to 2026’s Year of the Fire Horse.
The Department of Tourism-Cordillera Administrative Region followed with a highland tableau of Cordillerans in traditional attire rising from a garden of endemic blooms against a backdrop of sweeping mountain silhouettes.
Hall of Fame entries delivered spectacle with substance. Baguio Country Club fused fantasy and legacy in a pop-infused floral display, while SM Prime Holdings traced Baguio’s arc from the ruins of the 1990 earthquake to a triumphant landscape crowned by the city’s icons beneath a radiant floral rainbow — a single frame of grief and glory.
Big brands turned icons into showstoppers. KFC paraded its unmistakable bucket in bloom. Mang Inasal paired grilled favorites with Baguio landmarks. Golden Arches Development Corporation towered over a floral Big Mac and fries, while Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. energized the route with Mountain Dew’s citrus-green tribute to local flavors.
First-time participant Chooks-to-Go soared with a playful mascot perched atop a giant roasted chicken.
A day earlier, the festival unveiled a historic first during the Grand Street Dance Parade — a moving diorama titled “The Panagbenga Eras” that turned city roads into a stage of memory.
The production opened with nostalgic scenes of pre-1990 Baguio, honored Cordilleran weaving and ritual, then darkened into a chilling reenactment of the July 16, 1990, earthquake, complete with crumbling façades and wailing sirens. From simulated ruins rose renewal.
Launched in 1995 by lawyer Damaso Bangaoet Jr., Panagbenga was later continued by the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation Inc. to help revive the economy. It grew into a national draw and, in 2017, gained global prestige when Baguio was named a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art under UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network.
Drum and lyre corps from across Northern Luzon echoed this year’s theme with chants of “Salidumay” and “Dong-dong ay,” while street dance troupes wove stories of harvest, heritage, and unity.
Panagbenga at 30 proved that the festival is a living chronicle of resilience, a city that remembers the fault lines of its past, celebrates the colors of its present, and continues year after year.#nordis.net
