MASSKARA FESTIVAL

The Masskara Festival (Hiligaynon: Pista sang MassKara, Filipino:

 Fiesta ng MassKara) is a festival held each year in Bacolod,

 Philippines, every third weekend of October nearest October

 19, the city's Charter Inauguration Anniversary.

Etymology

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"), since

a prominent feature of the festival are the masks worn by

participants, which are always adorned with smiling faces.

History

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. It was also a time of tragedy;

on April 22 of that year, the inter-island vessel Don Juan carrying

many Negrenses, including those belonging to prominent families

in Bacolod City, collided with the tanker Tacloban City and sank.

 An estimated 700 lives were lost in the tragedy.

In the midst of these tragic events, the city's artists, local

government and civic groups decided to hold a festival of smiles,

 because the city at that time was also known 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. The initial festival was therefore, a declaration

 by the people of the city that no matter how tough and bad

the times were, Bacolod City is going to pull through, survive,

and in the end, triumph.

Masks

The Masks in the History of the festival is constantly changing

from masks influenced by native Filipinos which slowly was then

 influenced by Carnival of Venice and Rio Carnival motifs. Earlier

Masks had feathers, native beads, and masks were hand painted

while modern masks feature plastic beads, plastic.

Events

The festival features a street dance competition where people

from all walks of life troop to the streets to see colorfully 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 and bugle

corps competitions, food festivals, sports events, musical concerts,

agriculture-trade fairs, garden shows, and other special events

organized ad-hoc every year.

Street Dancing

The Street Dancing is divided into two categories; the schools division and

the barangays, the latter is considered as the highlight of the street dancing

competition.