Bonsai Festival preps on
Bonsai growers, hobbyists, and the general public are invited to join the Bonsai festival on July 28 up to August 3, with display area at the Botanical Garden, along Leonard Wood road.
As of date, a dozen hobbyists confirmed their attendance to the event. Those interested to participate in the festival may contact City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) personnel and Bonsai festival representative Kaycee Bangilan at cp# 0948-794-2940.
In a meeting last Wednesday CEPMO personnel and hobbyists agreed on having the festival open with a simple program on July 28 with an unlimited display of “tree in a pot,” at the site.
As suggested by the hobbyists, a bonsai clinic/workshop will be scheduled for newbies or those interested to start their own bonsai garden. Lecturers are from seasoned bonsai growers or from the group of Baguio-Benguet Bonsai organization. Participants should provide their own materials; wires, ties, pots and planting media, while common plant materials may be available from the park.
Bonsai hobbyist and Benguet Electric Company (BENECO) General Manager Melchor Licoben said the Bonsai group should thrive as support to the city’s environmental renewal program and to the city’s being a pioneer creative city. As such, planting pots and stands may be created using upcycled/recyclable/indigenous materials, with artistic, experimental, inventive, ingenious and imaginative concepts combined as to its primary use.
Leisure time tending bonsai plants is time well-spent, the hobbyists agreed; such that their products are well-cared for, valued and kept thriving for many years.
According to project manager Bangilan, due to limited resources, modest cash incentives shall be given on closing day to the following Bonsai details: exposed roots, fruiting, flowering, forest, rock-clasping, slanting, and a special award of people’s choice.
Ideas on bonsai materials also overflowed during the meeting, exploring the possibilities of producing fruits from the “tree in the pot,” or propagating temperature sensitive/lowland trees in Baguio, given proper venues or technological conditions.
The bonsai festival is part of the annual Saleng Festival celebration, from June to September and institutionalized through Ordinance 02, 2022.
This year’s celebration is the second, the first in 2021 in a toned-down mode, with the theme: “Only One Earth.
”The Saleng festival activities are focused on caring, nurturing and keeping in touch with nature; and all organisms in the ecosystem. – Julie G. Fianza
