masskara mayhem

MassKara 2024, now on its 45th celebration of the festival - is finally ending this October 27. Typhoon season - hard rain, gusty winds, and lots of floods are minor deterrents in its whirling frenzy. 

MassKara means many faces - conceived to uplift residents in the 1980s when the twin tragedy of the sugar industry crisis and the sinking of Negros Navigation's M/V Don Juan almost wiped us all out. 

The local community needed a happy celebration to mark the resilience and perseverance demanded of Bacolodnons and Negrenses. To shift the focus from grief and loss to something brighter and better. 

MassKara 2024 logoelements

Bacolod promotes itself as the City of Smiles yet much of its pomp and festivities are built on a heavy history and heritage marred by gloom and tragedy. Through the decades – as MassKara has grown in activities as well as commercial and tourist draws - the polarity and play of light and shadow grows more extreme. 

The MassKara Festival has become a glittering affair that attracts tourists from all over the world. There is however a murky and sometimes shady underbelly to the celebrations - sharing the spotlight over flamboyant glitz and glamor. 

Months ahead there are full street rehearsals and brutal practice schedules. For many tribal teams, the training schools function almost like sports clubs. They have their colors, their flags, their signature dance moves and rhythmic chanting, their fans.

Preparation is serious business. Every year, the selected barangays are locked in fierce competition and harsh culling - to be crowned winners and included in the final parade presentations. A lottery-type scheme that is as popular as it is illicit. 

The district leaders and corporate backers that have made MassKara the fiesta phenomenon it is today aim for a quick return on their investment. A multimillion-peso tourist draw – where lots of quick and flashy deals happen between celebration and presentation. 

Bigger is not necessarily better as it turns out. The city of Bacolod, already plagued by a failing power grid, in its electrical output as well as petty government - is hard pressed to deliver under these trying conditions. It seems like the cake baked is crumbling all around under the pressure build up. 

Much as its current mayor loves to push the an agenda of barrio fiestas and mega builds - time in office can barely counter decades of past chaotic shenanigans and insufficient governing and management. That's the sad and bad news raining down on this latest charade. 

On the surface there is a lot of expansion and construction going on in Bacolod and Negros Occidental right now. It would benefit us all if these were better monitored to serve the local community. Beyond the draw of a quick buck made – and instead build a better and brighter future for each stakeholder.