Bacolod's Masskara Festival

- October 21, 2018

Masskara Festival is one of the many colorful and entertaining festivals Philippines has. It is an annual event held every month of October with highlights every fourth Sunday of the month in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. For this year, the festival highlights will conclude on October 28 based on the ordinance authored by Councilor Em L. Ang, setting the fourth Sunday of October as the permanent schedule of the Masskara Festival highlights. Concerts, parties, pageants, street dances, food fest and a lot of activities are being held throughout this month-long celebration.

The term Masskara is a fusion of two words, English word “mass” which means crowd/multitude of people and Spanish word “cara” which means face, thus forming “multitude of smiling faces”. It was coined by the late artist Ely Santiago. The Mardi Gras/Carnival-inspired festival is known for the iconic colorful smiling masks which can be seen mostly during street dances. Because of this, Bacolod City was known as the “City of Smiles” and gained its popularity as tourists continue to increase yearly.

Parade of Street Dance Participants

The first celebration of the festival began in 1980 during a period of crisis. Two major events occurred during this period. First is the significant drop in sugar production due to the introduction of sugar substitutes like high fructose corn syrup in the United States. Bacolod City is the sugar’s capital of the country and served as the major exporter of sugar products. Second is the luxury liner MV Don Juan tragedy. Shipping line Negros Navigation MV Don Juan collided with an oil tanker which caused the vessel to sink. It happened on the 22nd of April, 1980, where more than 700 people from the city lost their lives which included the family members of some prominent families as well. In the midst of these tragic events, the late city Mayor Jose “Digoy” Montalvo together with civic groups and the local people decided to hold this one of a kind festival to boost and uplift the morale of every Negrense that was once lost. This was the beginning of “Festival of Smiles” or commonly known nowadays as the Masskara Festival.

Giant Mask at the City Hall

Street Dance at the Bacolod Public Plaza

2GO Float

How to go to Bacolod, Negros Occidental:

There are 3 ways to get to Bacolod City: by land, by air and by sea.

By air:

You can go to Bacolod City directly from Manila, Angeles, Butuan, Cagayan de oro, Cebu, Davao and Puerto Princesa. Bacolod-Silay International Airport is the main airport. It is located 15 kilometers northeast of Bacolod. From Manila, it would take an hour and 30 minutes to reach Bacolod if you decided to go by plane.

By land:

Once you reached Bacolod City, travelling around the city is possible through the help of local modes of transportation. Jeepney is the primary mode of transportation. Pedicabs, Tricycles, Taxis, Van and Bus (Ceres Liner) are some of your options to get you around the city and nearby destinations.

By sea:

If you’re coming from Iloilo City and you decided to go to Bacolod, you can reach Bacolod through the help of Oceanjet and Supercat 2GO ferry lines. Travelling is approximately an hour of ferry ride. 2GO travel route from port of Manila to Bacolod will take you 18 to 23 hours of ferry ride.

Roro is also available from Iloilo, Cebu and other nearby provinces. This will take you 3 to 6 hours depending on the land travel you will take.

Best way to enjoy Bacolod:

You can still enjoy the beauty of Bacolod and other destinations Negros Occidental offers even if Masskara Festival is already over. Here are some of the must see, must experience and must visit when you are in Negros Occidental:

1 Taste Authentic Chicken Inasal at Manokan Country.