It’s this time of the year once again when my city is alive with colors, songs, and other attractions. Yes, October is MassKara Festival in Bacolod City, the capital of the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines.
But what is it all about and how did it all start? Read my post Behind MassKara’s Smile for a bit of history. When I went back to Bacolod, I had a taste of the festivities (The colors of #MassKaraFestival2014) for the first time after years, or probably two decades, of being away from home.
This year, what is in store for those who want to join in the revelry of MassKara 2018?
Festivals celebrate the most significant events and developments in a community’s life. This year, the biggest event in Bacolod was the 80th year of the city’s founding, 80 years of highs and lows. That our people pulled through together speaks of our maturity. That is what we celebrate about in this year’s MassKara.
THE 2018 MASSKARA LOGO
The logo of the 39th MassKara Festival celebrating the 80th birthday of Bacolod has been released. They were presented to the public for the first time yesterday by the Festival action officer Councilor Em Ang at the Rotary Club of Bacolod North meeting. Digital artist Mark Lester Jarmin, who specializes in character logos to international clientele, did the present logo. He also designed last year’s. For the first time, the logo has the theme of the festival in bigger fonts than the words “MassKara Festival.” This is to emphasize that this year’s celebration is a milestone bigger than the festival—the 80th birthday of the city, festival director Eli Tajanlangit said.
The logo shows a MassKara dancer peeking through the first letter “O” in the word “Bacolod.” Jarmin said the dancer is wearing a mask with eight colorful feathers representing eight decades of the city; silhouettes of a human figure representing the people of Bacolod behind the masks, a black and white checkered pattern representing one of Bacolod’s landmarks—the public plaza’s checkered steps; and a smiling face on the second letter “O.”
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS*
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