A yearly celebration on the third weekend of each October, the MassKara is Bacolod's most popular fiesta. It has represented the Philippines in several festivities throughout Asia. The English word "mass" (many) and the Spanish word "Kara" (face) are combined to represent the many masks that the dancers wear. The masks are usually smiling. After all, Bacolod is the "City of Smiles".
It is a three day event full of music, food, drinking and dancing. The plaza is lined with tents of souvenirs for sale and Kiosks of beer and Inasal (bbq) of pork and/or chicken.
The fiesta starts out with a beauty pageant, every fiesta has one. There are three days of street dancing competition where the contestants are elaborately dressed in colorful costumes to match their colorful masks. Day one is the "Schools Category". Day two is the Barangay (village) Category". Day three is "Open Category". Giant speakers along the dance path get everyone into the festive mood.
It's a really cool experience that should not be missed if you are in Bacolod at that time or a neighboring island.
So, as they say in Ilongo (local dialect) . . .
Kari na sa Bacolod, magdala sang maskara, kag magsinadya kita! (Come to Bacolod, bring your masks, and we’ll have some fun!)
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