Participants in the “Mayor Albee VIP and Sponsors’ Gala: A MassKara Fundraiser” on Sunday.* MassKara Festival FB page photo
Bacolod City is celebrating its “grandest” MassKara Festival this year, festival director Pinky Mirano-Ocampo announced on Sunday, August 21.
Mirano, who is also the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation Inc. president, said the festival will be held from October 1 to 23 with the theme “Balik Yuhum (bring back the smiles)”.
The Bacolod Yuhum Foundation has been tasked by Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Benitez to organize the festival.
The “Mayor Albee VIP and Sponsors’ Gala: A MassKara Fundraiser” was held at the Stonehill Suites in Bacolod City on Sunday and was joined by Benitez, Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya and the 16 MassKara Queen 2022 contestants.
“It is very important that we give our all for this MassKara Festival” because it is the first major festival to be held two years after the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Benitez said.
“We want to bring back what we have lost during the pandemic and it’s very important that we give it our best effort,” he said.
Bacolod has much to gain if this year’s MassKara Festival is a very successful that is why he is making sure that the whole country knows about it, Benitez said.
“This is a sign for us to go back to how it used to be…let us bring back the smiles” he said.
This year’s MassKara Festival will send a signal to the rest of the country that Bacolod is back in business and is moving ahead, he said.
Benitez reiterated that he has invited President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Liza Araneta Marcos, to the festival and they have confirmed that they will attend.
This year’s Masskara Festival is divided into three parts, with the first week dedicated sporting dubbed the MassKara Olympics, the second week to a trade fair, and the third week to cultural events and entertainment, the mayor said.
This way visitors will have a lot of activities to choose from, he said.
The hotels in Bacolod City are already near full capacity for the festival that is why the city is looking at Airbnb accommodations, or private individuals willing to offer some units for rent, he said.
He is also looking at the cities of Talisay and Bago for visitor accommodations, and calling for additional fastcraft trips from Iloilo, Benitez added.*