Wednesday 19 October 2016

My Theology Teacher And The Masskara Festival



I remember our Theology teacher at La Salle in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines, the home of the Masskara Festival, telling her class that she didn't like the idea of the Masskara Festival.

She thought it connotes that everyone in Bacolod City was wearing a mask. 

Well, she was, in a way, right. All of us in this world actually wear a mask, the mask behind which we hide our true emotions, our true intentions, our true self.

But the idea of the Festival's original organizers was about 'a crowd of smiling faces' from their portmanteau 'mass-kara', a combination of the word mass (crowds) and 'cara', the Spanish word for 'face', because if you're attending the Festival, it will be a crowd of smiling faces, both of the participants and the revelers, that you'll see at the streets during the Festival.

And capitalizing on Bacolod City's reputation as the 'City of Smiles', the Masskara Festival tries to bring fun to the city and probably reminds my Theology teacher every year that, with or without a mask, we all should enjoy, have fun, and wear a smile!
    (Masskara Festival masks on display in 
           a showroom in Bacolod City)

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