Panagbenga is month-long annual flower festival occurring in Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines. The term is of Malayo-Polynesian origin, meaning “season of blooming”. 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. The festival includes floats that are decorated with flowers unlike those used in Pasadena‘s Rose Parade. The festival also includes street dancing, presented by dancers clad in flower-inspired costumes, that is inspired by the Bendian, an Ibaloi dance of celebration that came from the Cordillera region.

Aside from economic boosts from tourism, the festival also helped the younger generation of indigenous people to rediscover their culture’s old traditions. The indigenous people was first wary with government-led tourism because of the threat that they will interfere or change their communities’ rituals. (Source)

Baguio Flower Festival schedule for 2011 

February 1, 2011 – Grand Opening Parade
February 1 – Mar 6, 2011 – Market Encounter
February 12, 2011- Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom
February 13, 2011 – Pre-Valentine Event & Fluvial Float Parade
February 26, 2011 – Grand Panagbenga Street Parade
February 27, 2011 – Grand Float Parade
February 28 – March 6, 2011 – Session Road in Bloom
March 2, 2011 – Pony Boys Day
March 3, 2011 – Central North Luzon Tourism Fair
March 6, 2011 – Grand Closing Ceremony & Grand Fireworks Display (Flowers in the Sky)