About 12 to 15 barangays and seven elementary schools are expected to join this year’s MassKara Festival street dancing and arena competitions in October, festival director Rodney Ascalon said on Monday, August 4.
Ascalon, who joined Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya at a press conference at the Mayor’s Office, said the festival will run from October 1 to 19, with an after-party celebration on October 26.
The festival’s highlights will be from October 17 to 19.
The MassKara Festival arena dance competition will be held at the Paglaum Sports Complex, after which the participating groups will dance their way to the Bacolod Public Plaza for the awarding rites.
This is part of a thrust to bring more activities back to the Bacolod Public Plaza to boost economic activity in the area, Gasataya said.
Previously, performers danced their way from the plaza to the Paglaum Sports Complex, where the arena competition capped the event.
The grand prize for the winning group will not be lower than the P1 million previously awarded, Ascalon said.
The after-party will be a thank you event for all those who are part of organizing the festival, Gasataya said.
All the winners from the October 1 to 19 festival activities will perform at the after-party, Ascalon said.
The MassKara song will be composed and sung by local artists, and the festival video and logos will be locally produced, Ascalon said.
“It will be a festival of local talents,” he said.
The beat of the MassKara song must be lively, reflecting the spirit of Bacolod, the mayor said.
The festival sites will be the Bacolod Public Plaza, the Bacolod City Government Center grounds, Lacson Street, and other areas that are under negotiation, Ascalon said.
The festival will encourage greater participation from the 61 barangays and the different sectors of the community, Ascalon said, adding that it will focus on unity.
“We will bring out the best of Bacolod in the 19 days of the festival,” he said.
While the festival will focus on local talents, big national stars will also be invited, Ascalon said.
The festival is being managed by the newly created Gugma Foundation, which is headed by Ascalon.
Gasataya said his instructions to the organizers are to be transparent with all their expenditures, even for amounts donated by the private sector.
Meanwhile, the construction of the P35 million MassKara building is ongoing on city government property in Barangay 8, the mayor said.
The funds for the building were sourced by former Senator Ramon Revilla and by Gasataya from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The DPWH has committed to completing the drainage work at the Bacolod Public Plaza before the festival starts to prevent flooding in the area, Gasataya also said.*