Bacolod City’s public plaza will host a series of competitions and community activities from Oct. 9 to 16 as part of the MassKara Festival 2026, featuring local dancers, student performers, market vendors and representatives of various sectors.
The Bacolod Gugma Foundation announced on Tuesday, Sept. 29, that the activities will be held under the festival theme “Share The Smile. Celebrate Gugma.”
The plaza events will begin on Oct. 9 with the Choreographers Face Off, featuring homegrown dance talents representing different barangays in Bacolod.
Elementary and high school students will compete in the Inter-School Drum and Lyre Corps Competition on Oct. 10, with nine elementary schools and three high schools participating.
Vendors from the Central, Burgos and Libertad public markets will take part in Market Day on Oct. 11 and 12, with eight vendors’ associations from each market joining the activity.
The city will also hold Bidang Sektor on Oct. 12, featuring performances by representatives of the women’s, youth, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ and transport sectors, as well as public market vendors.
Young singers aged 12 to 17 will compete in SINGKARA 2026 Teens Edition, which has selected 30 finalists following its elimination rounds.
The competition’s grand finals will be held at the public plaza on Oct. 16.
Tricycle drivers and operators will also take part in TODA Day 2026, which will feature TODA Best Man, a competition involving 10 drivers, and TRISIKAT, a display of 20 lighted tricycles representing transport groups across the city.
Meanwhile, the inter-barangay hip-hop dance competition MassKareppin’ Rekta sa Kalye Vol. 2 will begin with its preliminary round at Ayala Malls Capitol Central on Oct. 1.
Its semifinal round will be held at Robinsons Bacolod, while the final round will take place at the Bacolod City Government Center grounds.
The press release said said the public plaza activities are intended to provide performance opportunities for Bacolodnons from different barangays and community sectors during the festival.*
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