Masskara Festival of Bacolod City – Kari Kamo Sa Bacolod!

Masskara Festival of Bacolod City – Kari Kamo Sa Bacolod!

The Origin

Coming from the fusion of two English words, “mass” and “kara” (which means mass of faces), the MassKara festival is celebrated every third weekend of October. The festival began in 1980 when the city is enduring a time of crisis. Their primary crop, sugar cane, went low in the market because of the introduction of subsitutes. It was also when the vessel Don Juan collided with the tanker Tacloban City which cost at least 700 lives.

The city’s artists and government and civic groups decided to hold a festival, namely a festival of smiles, to cheer up the populace because of the ongoing tragedies and also that the city is known to be the City of Smiles. They reasoned that the festival will also be a reminder that Bacolod will endure all trials, no matter how tough, and in the end still standing strong. The festival also projects a Bacoleno’s ability to smile, to be charming and to be tough in the face of challenges.

The Festival

The MassKara Festival would have died out three years after its first run, but thanks to Evelio Leonardia, the festival moved on after proposing to initiate the movement among tourists and tourism stakeholders. After 28 years the festival has attained the ANVIL award of the Philippine Public Relation Society and also became the major event of the city.

Among the activities in the festival is a street dance competition where competitors don colorful masks and dance to the tune of Latin beats, boasting coordination and stamina. They also hold the MassKara Queen beauty pageant, fairs, food festivals, sport and musical events, agricultural fairs, garden shows, and many other special events.

The MassKara festival is not anchored on any religious, historical, nor cultural event. It is simply described as “artistic” and that is how simple the festival’s story is, that a Bacoleno expresses his capacity to smile, to do good, and his beauty through sights, sounds, colors, and rhythm.

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