Smiling faces that would greet you like you’re friends, striking colors that would brighten up your day, groovy music that would make you dance, food that would make you salivate (chicken inasal, napoleones, and the cakes of Calea’s) —these are just some of the reasons that would make you visit the City of Smiles—Bacolod City.

That’s what made me come to Bacolod last year. But this year, I’m back home reminiscing and missing the festival. I would love to return to Bacolod. It’s one of the cities where you’d like to walk around, eat, walk, and eat again. hahaha. Bacolod is a food haven. I’ve yet to post the restaurants where I ate last year.

But for now, check out my shots of the colorful MassKara Festival in 2010.

Here’s a short background about the festival: 

MassKara is a fusion of two words: Mass (which means multitude or many) and Kara (a Spanish word for “face”). Hence, MassKara means a mass or multitude of smiling faces.

And why the smiling masks?

“As a people, we have this fantastic ability to hide our feelings. We can smile through adversity,” said festival director Eli Tajanlangit.

Unlike other Philippine festivals, the MassKara festival is celebrated not because of religion or legend. Tajanlangit related that the festival was born because of a depression that befell the sugar industry in the 1980s.

“Looking back at how it started, we celebrate (the festival) as a collective declaration of hope against all odds. MassKara is very Bacolod because for no reason, we celebrate, we party. That’s us as a people. Whatever happens, we will survive as a people,” said Tajanlangit, who has organized the yearly festival since 2004.

MassKara Festival is celebrated every October.