MassKara Festival

MassKara began in 1980 and settled into Bacolod's calendar as the city's largest event, built around one image: a smiling mask, usually beaded and feathered, worn by dancers in matched costumes. The competition runs over the last weekend of October, with barangay and school groups performing set choreography first in an arena and then along the main streets, followed by an electric mass dance that goes on into the night. Around it the city fills with food stalls, a street party along Lacson, and mask-making workshops where the beadwork is done by hand. The name plays on mass and the Spanish word for face.

What you actually see

• The masks - beaded and feathered smiling faces, made by hand over weeks.
• The street dance competition - matched groups performing along the main avenues over the final weekend.
• The mask workshops - beadwork and moulding done in open workshops before the festival.
• The Lacson street party - food stalls and crowds filling the avenue at night.

When to go

The main events fall on the last weekend of October, with lead-up activities through the month. Book rooms and flights well ahead, as Bacolod fills. Daytime street dancing is the part worth planning for; the evening turns into a drinking crowd. October is still within the wet season and showers are likely.

Honest expectations

The competition days are extremely crowded and hot, with long waits along the route for a parade that passes in minutes. Grandstand tickets sell out and the free viewing spots are a scrum. Accommodation prices jump for the weekend. Outside those few days there is nothing festival-related to see, and Bacolod is an ordinary working city with limited sights of its own.

Nearby

The Ruins at Talisay and Silay's heritage houses are both within half an hour of the city.