The festival that made Bacolod famous began as an event to inspire the locals to face the hard times with a smiling face, thus masks with smiling faces are worn by revelers who join the parade. Street dancing, drum beating, drinking, eating and just being merry - all this show the resiliency of Negrenses and their zest for life.
MassKara Festival (Filipino.Biz.ph)
The Masskara Festival started in 1980 to add color and fun to Bacolod City's celebration of its Charter Day on October 19. The original idea behind the Masskara Festival was to promote a time of happiness to a down-trodden people. It has since boosted Bacolod City's tourism because of the tourists who join the merry-making, as well as buy orchids and handicrafts.
MassKara Festival (Wikipedia)
The MassKara Festival is a week-long festival held each year in Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental province in the Philippines every third weekend of October nearest October...
Masskara Festival Bacolod City Negros Occidental Philippines The Masskara Festival through the years gives the people of Negros, as well as local and foreign visitors, a chance to drink and be merry for 20 days. Originally designed to show the hardships of the people of Negros, the Masskara Festival has become a tool of escapism and a way to generate revenues for big business. It has indeed come a long way, and it is clear that the path turn away from the progressive goal.
Masskara Festival The term Masskara is coined from two words: mass, meaning crowd, and the Spanish word cara, for face; thus the double meaning for "mask" and "many faces". The Masskara festival was first conceived in 1980 to add color and gaiety to the Bcolod City's celebration of its Charter Day anniversary, on 19 October. The symbol of the festival - a smiling mask - was adopted by the organizers to dramatize the Negrenses happy spirit, despite periodic economic downturns in the sugar industry.
MassKara: A Thousand Smiles Per Minute The word MassKara has a double meaning. First, it is a fusion of the English word "mass" or many and "kara", the Spanish word for "face." MassKara then becomes a "mass of faces," and these faces have to be smiling to project Bacolod already known in the late 70's as the City of Smiles. MassKara also is the dialect "maskara" for the English word mask, which gives rise to the use of giant smiling masks in varied hues, colors and brilliance which the gaily costumed dancers wear as they stomp, swing, pulsate and gyrate in the major streets of the city every third weeded nearest to the 19th of October, which is the City Charter Anniversary of Bacolod.
Masskara Festival - Experience Philippines
On the weekend nearest to the 19th of October each year, the city of Bacolod in the province of Negros Occidental goes joyfully crazy with the MassKara Festival. First conceived in 1980 to add color and gaiety to the city’s celebration of its Charter Day anniversary, the festival has become the biggest annual tourism event not only of Bacolod, but of the entire province as well.
Welcome to the 30th MassKara Festival in Bacolod City ... Bacolod City celebrates the MassKara Festival October of each year. The festive mood in the City of Smiles becomes contagious as masked dancers line the streets, dancing along with the music all the way to the Bacolod public plaza.
The Story Behind The Mask The MassKara Festival has become an icon for Bacolod as the City of Smiles. It has become the symbol of how Negrenses triumphed over difficult times. The MassKara Festival was conceived in a time when the Province of Negros Occidental was reeling from the effects of the sugar crisis. Having depended largely on the sugar idustry for so long, the looming crisis had devastating effects to thousands whose livelihood depended on it.
Masskara Festival (WikiPilipinas) The MassKara Festival is an annual festival which takes place during the first two weeks of October, held in Bacolod City in the province of Negros Occidental. This week-long festivity coincides with the city's charter anniversary.
