Sunday, March 02, 2008 Delen: Panagbenga rediscovered By Annie Delen Jaded Mind
(OR IF you can't say it correctly, just call it 'Flower Festival')
I "discovered" the flower festival by accident way back in 1997. Yep, I was that clueless then.
I was actually on my way to class when a throng of people blocked my path. It was at the overpass just outside Sunshine Grocery where I saw people standing on the ledge watching something. It was a parade of some sort.
There I was trying to get through when an acquaintance saw me and passed on the good news; classes were cancelled because of the flower festival.
The what? I didn't know it then but I was about to see Baguio history in the making. I had no choice. I was stuck in the middle of a crowd so I might as well watch.
Books in hand I slipped in between two burly guys (I remember because for a few minutes I thought I'd pass out for lack of air) and craned my neck to get a better view.
Needless to say, risking my life on that ledge on a hot afternoon was well worth it. (Going to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras was simply out of the question.)
Years have passed and flower festivals (we now call it "Panagbenga") have come and gone. With it was the urge to watch it.
In fact, for two straight years, I saw the event through the idiot box. That was during our Zigzag Weekly Days (with the editor of this paper) when press day was on a Saturday.
Needless to say, the excitement over the event also waned. Once in a while the interest peaked when something unusual happens.
I am not likely to forget "Panagbenga" 2004 when the city had 2 versions of the street dancing parade. Nor that time when it rained in the middle of the performances so everyone most especially the performers got soaked to the skin.
But other than these, the festival had become at least for this jaded mind a "normal" event.
Until last Saturday that is.
As a favor to a friend, and with the help of other friends, I arranged an interview for a group of Anthropology students from University of the Philippines (UP) Dilliman with Atty. Damaso Bangaoet Jr., who is considered to be the father of the "Panagbenga".
He gamely regaled us with stories on how the festival was started including anecdotes on its development through the years.
To say that I rediscovered the flower festival is an understatement. Thank you sir for allowing us to see the "Panagbenga" through your eyes.
*****
Got an email from the ever patient night owl who edits this paper.
He said I have a fan from Los Angeles in the US. Through the email, I was given a link that I can go to so I can get country music 24/7.
Whoever you are, I am grateful for your concern in the furtherance of my music education; I'll check the link soon as I get through a mountain of tasks that unfortunately have nothing to do with country music.
*****
Last time, I mentioned Lewis Grizzard, one of my favorite humorists and promised to write about him and I will too.
But in the meantime, let me give you some Grizzard quotes (thanks to the Wikipedia) that I hope would give you a taste of his brand of humor.
"You ain't from around here, are you? Don't lie and say you're from Florida, that accent says New Jersey." "Life is like a dogsled team, If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes."
"If the deer had guns too, then, and only then, would hunting truly be a sport."
"Yankees...ain't real sure how smart we are. See, cause we talk slowly and move slowly. They don't know we thinkin' all that time," (said in an affected slow Southern drawl).
Grizzard also remarked that being a newspaper columnist was much different than being a reporter (or, as he put it, a newspaperman); the main difference, Grizzard said, was that a columnist was free to make things up if they so wished, while a reporter had to stick to facts.
By now you would have realized that he is not exactly shy about his opinions and yes, he can be brutally frank. After all, if I wanted sugarcoating, I wouldn't be listening to country music would I?
