A KARITON (push cart) masks seller Rodolfo Edem has displayed a variety of masks that he began selling on the first day of the opening of this year's MassKara Festival.
Edem has a variety of designs and sizes of masks that he sells around the public plaza, which is among the festival sites of this year's grandest festival.
He said on October 1, he already started selling the masks wherein local tourists and visitors coming from Cebu and other parts of the country have already started buying from him.
Local stores that adorn their space with masks to create a festive mood and aura also bought from him.
Edem said on the first few days of the festival, people bought from him what he described as "naga tusik tusik na," which meant that it is picking up.
The 60-year-old mask seller also said that he is the one making his masks, gaining experience from his former work in a ceramic store in Bacolod City.
The huge masks will entail a day of standing and he can only make three huge MassKara masks.
"It is manually done. I used paper mache as the original material used by former mask makers in the city," Edem said.
He started selling masks way back in 2004.
It was only during the pandemic that he stopped because the festival was also postponed for two years.
But since the MassKara Festival is back now, Edem made his supply of masks early, and now he is selling them, particularly at Plaza Mart, Downtown Area.
He made the masks himself, while his children are more inclined to tattoo-making.
Edem is hopeful that this festival will increase his sales.
He also rolls his capital and plows it back, which means when he has income, he will use it again to buy the materials to make his supply of masks.
Edem asked everyone to patronize his masks and those who also sell them during the festival as this is the time that they can generate income for their family.