MassKara Festival Bacolod City
Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental province, is known as the “City of Smiles” and recently was voted the “Best Place to Live in the Philippines” in a survey by MoneySense Magazine. Adding to the reputation as the “City of Smiles” is the MassKara Festival, a week -long festival held yearly in the city. It is held every third weekend of October nearest October 19th which is the city’s Charter Anniversary.
First held in the year 1980, the festival didn’t happen at a good time for smiles because this was a period of crisis and mourning for the residents of the city. First, the province relied on sugar cane as the main agricultural crop, and the price of sugar was at an all time low. Secondly, on April 22nd of that year a collision between the vessel Don Juan and the tanker Tacloban City claimed the lives of 700 people. Many of the victims were Negrenses including those belonging to prominent families from Bacolod City. In the midst of these tragic events it was decided to uphold the city’s name as the City of Smiles and have a festival of smiles. The festival was held with the purpose of declaring that no matter how tough the times were, Bacolod City would in the end triumph.
The festival named from a combination of the word “mass” which means many people and the Spanish word cara meaning “face” features a street dance competition with colorfully dressed dancers. There is also a beauty pageant, food festivals, musical concerts and other events to make this one of the most visited festivals in the Philippines. Please watch the video below to get an idea of what the festival is like.
