October. Oktoberfest. Overflowing of beer. Party. Dancing. Thinking of Europe? Well, think local this time. Think MassKara festival happening in Bacolod.
When you try to google about MassKara you will often find the meaning of its moniker. Usually you get the literal meaning which means, “many faces” because most travel bloggers think that it is the same as the Spanish word for mask which is “maskara” but look at how it is written. The foundation behind this festival emphasizes that it should be spelled with a capital “K” and it is a merging of two word “mass” and “kara”.
I live just across Bacolod, visit it countless times but it was just recently when I was on assignment for Bacolod which is also published this month in Mabuhay Magazine that I learned about “MassKara“.
I also had the opportunity to interview one of its pillars, former congressman and Department Tourism head ( it was called differently during Marcos era), Congressman John Orola. It was from him that I uncovered the real meaning of the festival. MassKara means, “faces of the masses” because they want to make the festival for the masses for the ordinary citizens, to enjoy even after the tragedies that inflicted Negros Occidental namely sugar crisis and the mishap of a sea vessel killed hundreds of Negrenses.
This month, I am very pleased that Mabuhay Magazine featured a photo essay of MassKara. After all it is one of the most colorful festivals in the country that attracts tourists, surpassing other festivals way ahead of Bacolod’s.
I took this screenshot from the online version of the magazine with my blurb.
My travel feature, ” A Sweetlife in Sugarlandia”, will give you ideas on where to go, what to do and what to eat before or after the MassKara Festival.
A total of 9 pages for Bacolod this month!
Read Mabuhay Magazine online ( I really love this issue. In Tagalog, it is so “sik-sik”)
http://issuu.com/mabuhaymagazine/docs/mabuhay_oct_2012
Related Articles
1 Comment