The Sound Hits You First
You hear the drums before you see anything. Somewhere down Session Road, a bass drum is setting a tempo that bounces off the pine trees lining the sidewalk, and then — around the corner — a wall of color. Dancers in costumes that look like they weigh more than the people wearing them, moving in formation down Baguio’s main street.
That’s Panagbenga. February 1 to 28, 2026, though the parades that everyone comes for happen on the last two weekends. The name is Kankanaey for ‘season of blooming,’ which sounds like tourist board copy but is actually just accurate — Baguio sits at 1,500 meters in the Cordillera mountains, and February is when everything flowers.
What Started It
The festival dates back to 1995, which makes it younger than you’d expect. It was created after the 1990 Luzon earthquake — magnitude 7.8, killed over 1,600 people, flattened parts of Baguio. The city needed something. Panagbenga was partly civic therapy, partly a bet that flowers could bring tourists back to a place that had just been on international news for the wrong reasons.
It worked, obviously. Thirty-one years later, it’s one of the biggest festivals in the Philippines. Whether it’s still primarily about earthquake resilience or has become its own thing is a question locals might answer differently depending on who you ask.
The Parades — Both of Them
There are actually two major parades, and people mix them up.
The Street Dancing Competition comes first — usually the second-to-last Saturday. This is the one with hundreds of dancers in elaborate costumes performing choreographed routines. Groups train for months. The costumes reference indigenous Cordilleran traditions, though how much is ‘authentic’ versus ‘festival interpretation’ varies by group. The dancing is genuinely impressive; the energy along Session Road is the kind where strangers end up clapping together without deciding to.
The Grand Float Parade is the following weekend. This is the postcard moment — enormous floats covered entirely in fresh flowers, each one assembled petal by petal. I’ve seen photos that look Photoshopped, but apparently that’s just what a float looks like when a team of fifty people has been gluing chrysanthemums onto a wire frame for a week. The floats roll down Session Road and several surrounding streets. Get there early for a spot, or don’t bother with the front row.
Session Road In Bloom (and Everything Else)
Outside parade weekends, the festival is more diffuse but still worth the trip. Session Road In Bloom turns the main commercial street into a pedestrian flower market — vendors selling cut flowers, potted plants, strawberries, and ube jam alongside woven textiles from the highlands.
Burnham Park and other green spaces host flower exhibitions and garden shows throughout February. These are lower-key than the parades but arguably more pleasant — less crowd crush, more actual flowers to look at.
There’s also a music and arts program that runs through the month, though the schedule tends to firm up late. Check the official Panagbenga Foundation page closer to your travel dates.
Getting There and Getting Around
Baguio is about 4 to 5 hours from Manila by bus via the TPLEX expressway. Victory Liner and Genesis run frequent routes from Pasay and Cubao terminals. During parade weekends, seats sell out days in advance — book early or consider going on a weekday.
Flying into Clark (Angeles City) instead of Manila can shave off an hour or so of driving, depending on traffic.
Once you’re in Baguio, the city center is walkable. On parade days, though, traffic is genuinely terrible. Taxis exist but get stuck in the same gridlock. The practical move is to walk to your viewing spot early and accept that you’re committed to that area for a few hours.
If you’re coming from outside the Philippines, booking flights through CheapOAir or CheapAir can sometimes turn up decent fares to Manila or Clark. Worth checking, though Manila flights are competitive enough that prices don’t vary wildly between platforms.
What to Eat (This Matters)
Baguio’s food scene is underrated, partly because people come for the festival and don’t explore beyond the obvious.
The obvious: strawberry taho. It’s silken tofu with strawberry syrup instead of the usual brown sugar, sold by vendors along Session Road. It costs almost nothing and tastes like it shouldn’t work but does.
Good Shepherd products — particularly the ube jam and peanut brittle — are a Baguio institution. The convent is up on a hill past the botanical garden. Lines can be long during festival season, but the jam keeps well and makes a good pasalubong.
For a real meal, try pinikpikan. It’s a traditional Cordilleran chicken soup — the preparation method involves singeing the chicken, which gives the broth a distinctive smoky flavor. Not every restaurant does it well. Ask around rather than walking into the first place with a sign.
The Weather Thing
Baguio in February sits between 12 and 22 degrees Celsius, which doesn’t sound dramatic until you remember that Manila is 30+ degrees year-round. The temperature swing catches people off guard. Mornings are genuinely cold — jacket weather, not just ‘bring a light layer’ weather.
It’s dry season, so rain is unlikely but not impossible. The bigger issue is wind — Baguio can be breezy, and combined with the altitude, evenings feel colder than the thermometer suggests.
Pack layers. Seriously.
Where to Stay (Book Now, Not Later)
This is the part where I have to be honest: accommodation during parade weekends is a problem. Hotels near Session Road and Burnham Park fill up weeks in advance, and prices spike. If you’re reading this in January and planning to go in late February, you’re already behind.
Options: book early through Agoda or Hotels.com to compare rates. Look at places slightly outside the city center — Camp John Hay area has decent options and is a 10-minute taxi ride from the action. Or go on a weekday, when availability opens up and prices drop.
Some people do Baguio as a day trip from Manila, leaving at 3 AM. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you genuinely enjoy long bus rides, but it’s technically possible.
The Honest Version
Panagbenga is crowded, the traffic is bad, and you’ll spend more time standing in place than you expected. The parade viewing experience involves a lot of waiting for a relatively short payoff. The phone signal collapses during the Grand Float Parade because everyone is trying to livestream simultaneously.
But the floats really are remarkable — there’s something about seeing a 15-foot sculpture made entirely of real flowers that photos don’t capture. And the mountain air, after Manila, feels like someone turned the world’s air conditioning on. The strawberry taho helps, too.
I ended up buying three jars of ube jam at Good Shepherd because the line was so long I figured I should make it count. Two of them made it home.
