MassKara Festival

Etymology[edit]
The word "Masskara" is a portmanteau, coined by the late artist Ely
Santiago from mass (a multitude of people), and the Spanish word cara
(face), thus forming MassKara (a multitude of faces). The word is also a
pun on maskara, Filipino for "mask" (itself from Spanish máscara),
since it is a prominent feature of the festival and are always adorned
with smiling faces, giving rise to Bacolod being called the "City of
Smiles".

History[edit]
The Festival first began in 1980 during a period of crisis. The province
relied on sugar cane as its primary agricultural crop and the price of
sugar was at an all-time low due to the introduction of sugar substitutes
like high fructose corn syrup in the United States. This was the first
MassKara Festival and a time of tragedy; on April 22 of that year, the
inter-island vessel MV Don Juan carrying many Negrenses, including
those belonging to prominent families in Bacolod City, collided with the
tanker Tacloban City and sank in Tablas Strait off Mindoro while en
route from Manila to Bacolod, which resulted in 18 lives lost, and 115
missing.

In the midst of these events, the local government then headed by the
late Mayor Jose "Digoy" Montalvo appropriated a seed fund and
enjoined the city's artistic community, civic and business groups to hold
a "festival of smiles", to live up to the City's moniker as the "City of
Smiles". They reasoned that a festival was also a good opportunity to
pull the residents out of the pervasive gloomy atmosphere brought by the
Don Juan Tragedy. The initial festival was held during the City's
[3]

Charter Day celebration on October 19, 1980 and was steered by an

organizing committee created by City Hall which was headed by the late
councilor Romeo Geocadin and then city tourism officer Evelio
Leonardia. It was a declaration by the people of the city that no matter
how tough and bad the times were, Bacolod City was going to pull
through, survive, and in the end, triumph.

The festival has evolved into one of the major annual tourism attractions
of the Philippines over the next four decades. Held in typical
Oktoberfest and Mardi Gras fashion, the MassKara Festival served as a
catalyst for far-reaching growth and development of the city's tourism,
hospitality, culinary, crafts and souvenirs and services sectors. In later
years, the Electric Masskara was added as another attraction of the
Festival. For several nights leading to the highlight weekend, tribes of
MassKara dancers garbed in colorful neon and LED lights on
illuminated floats make their way up and down the Lacson Strip, a one
kilometer stretch of merrymaking dotted with band stages, souvenir
stands, exotic car displays and roadside bars and food set-ups put out by
restaurant and hotels along the strip. It is said that beer consumption
during the festival is so high that at one time during the first few
stagings of the festival, it bled dry the Mandaue brewery of San Miguel
Corporation on nearby Cebu island. The company eventually built its
Bacolod brewery to serve the city and Negros Island.

The 2019 marks the 40th celebration of the festival, aptly called Ruby
Masskara. [4]

Masskara Festival Dancers in Bacolod City

Masskara Festival Bacolod

Masks[edit]
The mask motif of the festival has changed from masks influenced by
native Filipinos to those influenced by the Carnival of Venice and the
Rio Carnival. Earlier masks were hand-painted and adorned with
feathers, flowers and native beads, while contemporary masks feature
plastic beads and sequins.

Events[edit]

Winners of the MassKara Queen pageant in 2005

The festival features a street dance competition where people from all
walks of life troop to the streets to see masked dancers gyrating to the
rhythm of Latin musical beats in a display of mastery, gaiety,
coordination and stamina. Major activities include the MassKara Queen
beauty pageant, carnivals, drum, bugle corps competitions, food
festivals, sports events, musical concerts, agriculture-trade fairs, garden
shows, and other special events organized every year.