Festival in Bacolod City

The Maskara Festival

by: 3rd/c. Lagang, Joemar D.
SWU Maritime student


I never quite understood why my friend would move heaven and earth to leave Manila every 3rd weekend of October and be with his family in celebrating the Masskara festival in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental until I experienced myself what this festivity is about. After that, I realized that Bacolod City will never be called the City of Smiles without any reason at all.

When Bacolod City celebrates its Charter day, the event actually spans the whole month of October. Street dancing, unbelievably delicious food and a charged atmosphere of fun would greet you culminating with the MassKara Festival, a street dancing parade through the main thoroughfares of Bacolod by locals and tourists wearing colorful and elaborate masks and costumes.

MassKara, for those who wish to know a bit of its etymology, comes from two words: Kara which means face, and Mass which in English denotes "a lot"! It's a festival borne out of crisis and adversity, calling forth the resiliency and fun-loving nature of the Filipinos, proven especially true when times are difficult and not as you would rather wish them to be.