12 – MassKara

Following the GK expo I remained in Manila for another week to welcome the next batch of AYADs and participate in their orientation. This actually helped to consolidate just how much we have learned culturally, professionally and personally in 3 months as we assisted in presenting some of the sessions. It was weird not being the new kids anymore! It was also great to catch up again with the other AYADs and compare experiences.

At the end of the week, most of the AYADs (except for the newbies) boarded the plane with us and came to Bacolod for its annual MassKara Festival which culminated in a 3 day street party over the weekend of the 17th/18th/19th October. This year’s theme was “Bacolod, City of the World”. We had 13 people sleeping at our place, mostly on makeshift matresses on the floor but we had an absolute ball! Bacolod certainly knows how to party!

The festival is the same age as me. It began as a reaction to the economic downturn of sugar cane in the early 80’s. As this province relies heavily on sugar cane for its livelihood, everyone was suffering hard times. To turn the mood around they decided to hold a festival. The concept of the festival is the wearing of smiling masks, to symbolise happiness in the face of adversity.

A long stretch of the main street near our place was closed off to traffic, strung with banners, lined with food stalls and dotted with stages for live music. The street was packed with people, especially when it was time for the evening street parade known as Electric MassKara (a concept only in its second year). The costumes were incredible – mostly made from found materials and designed to represent local produce or icons. Each troupe came from a particular suburb (Barangay) and were competing for the honour of being crowned winner of the street dancing competition of MassKara 2008. It brought back happy memories of High School Rock Eisteddford days!

Not content with merely watching the parade, us AYADs all bought matching masks and fabric sashes, choreographed some very daggy dancing and joined in! Everyone on the street was stopping to take photos of this crazy bunch of Aussies! The other AYADs had the luxury of going back to their respective towns and cities throughout the Philippines but Aruna and I still have to live here! In the days since the festival we have received a number of comments from colleagues and friends who apparently saw us dancing at MassKara, thankfully mostly positive that we were getting into the vibe of the festival!