The Baguio City Creative Council (BCC) is spearheading a nearly month-long creative arts festival aimed at providing opportunities for more people to engage with art and sustain the city's status as a creative hub.

Venus Tan, vice chairperson of the BCC, emphasized the need to continuously provide training, venues, and opportunities for young people to hone their skills in the arts or creative industries through the annual Ibagiw Festival.

“We want to start with the children. We will emphasize how we can empower them. We will have events that will be interesting and engaging for the kids,” Tan told reporters on Wednesday.

In 2017, Baguio was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art among 63 new cities in 44 countries. Tan expressed hope that the Department of Education (DepEd) would participate in this goal by including arts and creativity in their curriculum.

During the opening of Baguio's annual Ibagiw Festival on November 4th, City Tourism Officer Aloysio Mapalo said that the city continuously conducts creative arts lectures, workshops, and activities for children to encourage the youth to express their creativity.

He said that the Ibagiw Festival has empowered the youth through the Sangguniang Kabataan (youth councils) of the city’s 25 barangays by transforming public spaces into art spaces.

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