Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the city government is poised to make the MassKara Festival a global event as more diplomatic missions and foreign communities have expressed interest to be part of the festivity.
“This is just the start as we move forward to the global stage,” Benitez said during a media fellowship Monday night.
The 44th MassKara Festival, which ran from Oct. 7 to 22, were highlighted by the Electric MassKara and Street Dance and Arena Competitions held on the final weekend.
In these events, performers from various barangays paraded in lighted floats as well as danced while wearing intricately-designed, multi-colored costumes, masks and headdresses for grand productions depicting Bacolod as a “super city”.
“These are activities that we should be proud of. We can really make this a stage for world recognition,” the mayor said the annual festivity which means “many faces”.
The 16-day festivity held various activities in eight main festival sites that drew several thousands of revelers each night not only from Bacolod and Negros Occidental, but also from other parts of the country and abroad.
Benitez shared that he has been receiving inquiries from several foreign embassies asking to be part of the MassKara Festival and invitations for MassKara dancers to participate in cultural events abroad.
“Aside from the usual events in California and New York in the United States and in Korea, now we have from those in Milan (Italy), Canada and other parts of the world requesting to see our pride that is MassKara Festival,” he added.
The mayor said that a television network has also informed him of its plan to broadcast the festival to other countries next year.
Moreover, Benitez said he will also push for the staging of a bigger food event during the MassKara Festival through the MassKanamit Culinary Showdown, which held its maiden edition this year.
“I think there’s much room for improvement for MassKanamit. We will come up with a grander more exciting food festival next year. We will make sure that the heart of Bacolod’s tourism attraction would be centered on food We will develop that as we go along,” he added.
Benitez said that among the city’s major attractions has always been the local cuisine.
“One of things visitors talk about when they come here is food. They always remember our food and that we should develop our food tourism,” he said. | NND
