OF BACOLOD City’s 61 barangays, only 10 qualified for this year’s MassKara Festival street and arena dance competition.
Dr. Bhadz Defensor Jr., chairman of the arena and street dance competition, said the 10 barangays completed the requirements, including their liquidation, for the 2024 MassKara Festival.
These are Barangays Handumanan, Barangay 21, Barangay 39, Barangay Tangub, Barangay 6, Barangay 29, Barangay Bata, Barangay 13, Barangay 11, and Barangay 7.
In the 2024 MassKara Festival, a total of seven barangays joined the street and arena dance competition, where Barangay Granada was adjudged champion.
Aside from the barangay category, the Bacolod Gugma Foundation Inc. also registered a total of seven elementary public schools in the school category, marking the category’s comeback after a five-year hiatus, the last being in 2019.
These schools include Don Rodolfo A. Medel Sr. Elementary School, Rizal Elementary School, Andres Bonifacio Elementary School II, Asuncion L. Lizares Elementary School, Estefania Elementary School, Education and Training Center School I, and Paglaum Village Elementary School.
Defensor said the school category will take place on October 18, marking its strong resurgence in the festival lineup.
The following day, October 19, the barangay category takes center stage.
Defensor said this year’s competitions will begin at the Paglaum Sports Complex with the arena performances.
“From there, contingents will proceed to the streets for the traditional street dancing parade,” he said.
He added that all groups will then converge at the Bacolod Public Plaza for the announcement of winners and a symbolic community dance.
Defensor noted that the city government will provide subsidies of P750,000 for each barangay and P500,000 for each school, adding that the subsidies must be liquidated to ensure transparency and accountability.
Festival Director Rodney Ascalon said the format has been flipped to give both the arena and street performances equal energy and exposure.
“We are flipping the traditional format,” Ascalon said.
Instead of starting in the streets and ending in the arena, he said they will begin at the Paglaum Sports Complex, where contingents will showcase their full performances, then bring the same energy to the streets.
He added that it allows both the judges and the public to experience the best of MassKara in two powerful stages of celebration.
Ascalon said preparations at the Paglaum Sports Complex are already underway with strong support and coordination from the provincial government of Negros Occidental.
The 46th MassKara Festival will officially open on October 1 and will end on October 19, 2025.
The highlights of the festival are set for October 17, 18 and 19. (MAP)
