24. Opening Parade of the Flower Festival

Hi Everyone,

During the month of February is a celebration called Panagbenga-- also known as the Flower Festival. "Panagbenga" comes from one of the native languages meaning "flowers in bloom". It is a big colorful festival in Baguio that is celebrated once a year supposedly attracting many tourists all over the Philippines.




Heide and her brother Denzil-- The three of us went into City Center to attend the opening parade, ceremonies and dance competition. They really haven't seen each other for twenty-five years.

Parade excerpt 1

Parade excerpt 2




Igorot Dance. Not sure these are really Igorots. Igorots are usually darker. Anyway, you know there are a lot of mothers experiencing a shortage of dish towels today.

Igorot Dance in the Parade. This is not the best way to dress for Baguio's weather.



I snapped some photos of these kids preparing for the dance competition. The girl on the left is a flower with a bee attached to her hand. The boy is a tree with huge leaves on his arms. He doesn't look very happy wearing his costume.




Ohhhh! My head hurts! Get this thing off of me!





Oh, this is embarrassing! My bee and I prefer hiding with all the other flowers, thank you.

(By the way, you can see our favorite tree in the background.)





These colorful Xylophone Girls dance and play the xylophones at the same time. As a group they provide music for the dancing flowers and trees.

Dance Competition. There were actually fourteen groups competing. This is the tail end of the first or second one. You can see the waiting yellow hatted xylophone girls in the background. Yes, this group has their own xylophone band.




Duane and Heide.