Holy Week in Baguio

Baguio City is never so busy and crowded as during the Lenten Season. Lent comes in the country each summer, mostly in the months of March and April when Metro Manila is at its hottest temperature of the year. So, lots of urbanites are out spending Holy Week in Baguio.

Bus loads of tourists and vacationers arrive in bus terminals in the city from dawn to midnight. Private vehicles line up the city entrance and major roads. Hotels, hostels, inns, lodges, and even rooms in residences are fully booked. It seems everyone’s in the city to spend Holy Week in Baguio—our neighbors, relatives, officemates, showbiz people, the Philippine president, and “balik-bayans” or Filipino tourists from abroad, among others.

Now, why would vacationers still opt for a place so crowded? Well, simply because it’s Holy Week in Baguio City. Even if people have to camp out, literally, on the Burnham Park grounds—which often happens, the choice is still Baguio City. Lots of people just can’t imagine themselves outside Baguio City in Holy Week.

Holy Week in Baguio means meeting people. We’ve got to love people to choose Baguio over staying home where we have lots of peace, quiet, and comfort. It’s wonderful to see people trooping to tourist sites en masse. Even those with vehicles have to step out and walk because of the traffic. Favorite stake out places during Holy Week in Baguio are the Baguio Cathedral in the city proper, Lourdes Grotto on top of Mirador Hill west of the city, Burnham Park, Mines View, and the malls.

The malls? Isn’t Holy Week a religious event to be observed solemnly? In Metro Manila, yes, but not in Baguio. Holy Week in Baguio means lots of fun, noise, crowds, adventure, sight-seeing, foods (lots of barbecued pork), and—who knows—even romance. Lots of new friendships and romantic relationships start in these pilgrimages. So, if we want to escape the religious sternness in the metropolis during this season, pack up and head to the mountains for a Holy Week in Baguio.

Baguio never sleeps during Lent. Shops, cafes, restaurants, parks, and the streets are abuzz with activities 24 hours a day. Lent has only 4 exciting days in Baguio and people don’t want to miss a single thing. Then come Sunday, most people just love to loaf around Camp John Hay.

It should be a life-goal to be able to spend Holy Week in Baguio one or twice. Then we begin to understand the joy in numbers.