Baguio - Ibagiw Creative Festival 2025. Gastro x Art Creative Crawl Part 1

Описание: There is more to Baguio City beyond ukay-ukay, ube jam and Good Taste Restaurant.
This we learned our visit during the Ibagiw Creative Festival.
In 2017, Baguio City has been designated as a UNESCO Creative City for Crafts and Folk Art.
This recognition highlights the city's vibrant crafts and folk arts scene, deeply rooted in Cordilleran culture.
The city created the Creative Baguio City Council that focuses on the creative economy as a catalyst for sustainable development, ensuring that every local creative sector thrives.
The city's commitment to creativity is further evidenced by the holding of the yearly Ibagiw Creative Festival. The theme for IBAGIW 2025 is “Traditions Rooted, Futures Routed”. Now on its eighth year, this year’s celebration highlights the enduring bond between heritage and innovation, affirming that while technology reshapes our world, creativity and culture remain our true compass.
As part of the Ibagiw Creative Festival 2025, we went on a Gastro X Art Creative Crawl to discover Baguio’s top culinary destinations while experiencing art exhibitions that honor local stories, indigenous materials, and artistic traditions.
For Part 1, after our restful sleep and delicious breakfast at Azalea Residences, we headed to Amare la cucina, a locally grown restaurant housed in the old mansion of former Vice-Presint Fernando Lopez. Amare is known for its superb Italian dishes with a Cordilleran twist. The restaurant also supports the local artists and artisans by exhibiting their works.
At Amare, we also met Ms. Venus Tan, the co-chair of Baguio City Creative Council, who explained to us how Baguio became the first UNESCO Creative City in the Philippines, and the reasons behind Ibagiw Creative Festival. In between, she regaled with the history of Baguio City, how the sayote brought during the Galleon Trade ended in the Cordilleras, and many more interesting stories.
This was followed by the visit to the galleries at the basement of Baguio Convention Center, featuring Kasiyana, an "All will be well" Art Exhibit that promotes art as a medium for healing, and The Pulse of the Heritage in the Age of Process that features the works of Cordillera artists and artisans, as curated by Clinton Anniversario.