The MassKara season is on!
The Bacolod public plaza has turned into a virtual MassKara park with the lighting up of the bandstand and the 19 giant mask-lanterns during the opening of the 32nd MassKara Festival Saturday. The celebration is expected to increase tourist influx to Bacolod throughout the 19-day festival. Acting Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, in his message during the opening ceremonies at the public plaza Saturday, said the MassKara Festival has evolved from a simple dance parade to what it is now – world-class. He thanked festival organizers and the sponsors for bringing the MassKara to a level where it is now known throughout the world. Sayson said “We are hoping that in these 19 days of celebration, we could bring Bacolod to the forefront of the tourism industry.” He also explained that Mayor Evelio Leonardia had requested him to express his (mayor’s) greetings to the people of Bacolod and to inform them that he was in Indonesia to represent Bacolod and the Philippines in the meeting of five ASEAN countries. Sayson said the mayor will be back in Bacolod today. Also present at the opening rites were Councilors Homer Bais, Roberto Rojas, El Cid Familiaran and Al Victor Espino. Meanwhile, the mask-lanterns are entries of the inmates from 19 district jails all over the province in the 1st Priso Mask-Making Competition in partnership with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, a press release from the organizers said. Petronas Energy Philippines president and chief executive officer Carlos Corpuz and senior manager Elbert Munasque distributed gifts to the BJMP jail wardens in recognition of their participation in the festival, as part of Petronas Day, which also falls on the opening day. The opening ceremonies were capped by a fireworks display, after which, the 1st MassKara dance showdown, in partnership with GMA TV, held an elimination round for 20 competing dance groups. Ten finalists will compete in the grand finals, it said. Festival director Eli F. J. Tajanlangit said the 2011 MassKara festival is “writing history.” For the first time in 32 years, he said, the MassKara streetdancing competitions will use live, original music, composed, scored, arranged and performed by barangay-based musicians and choreographers in Bacolod. Three MassKara landmarks, designed to be photo opportunity sites for visitors and tourists have also been mounted: a MassKara Billboard of Lights, at Araneta-Gonzaga streets; a lighted Bacolod public plaza bandstand; and the Majica MassKara installation at the Bacolod Government Center that will be unveiled on Oct. 7, he said. Tajanlangit said three major activities are being added this year: the 1st Priso Mask-Lantern Making Competition, the 1st MassKara Dance Showdown, which is designed to popularize different forms of MassKara dancers, and the 1st MassKara preview, also in partnership with GMA TV, which is a fashion show of the costumes that will be worn during the streetdancing competitions on Oct. 15 and 16. He said the Electric MassKara will be held Oct. 14 and 15 and will be expanded to include not just the Tourism Strip of Bacolod along Lacson, but also Rizal Street in SM City. This year is also the second time that the MassKara Festival is partnering with the Diocese of Bacolod for the celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on October. 9. Before that, living rosaries will be held for nine days leading to it, he said. The MassKara Queen coronation night is set October 17, at the University of Saint La Salle coliseum, and on Oct. 18, we shall hold “Salute to Bacolod!” will be held at the Bacolod Government Center, he said. The festival will end on Oct. 19 with grand awarding rites at the Bacolod Public Plaza, during which they will also hold the grand finals of the 1st MassKara Dance Showdown, he said. This year's theme “Celebrating the New Icons of Bacolod” is a way of recognizing the new structures, landmarks, institutions, and personalities that have dramatically transformed Bacolod into what it is now, Tajanlangit added.* Visayan Daily Star
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