Camera Club, AAB-N launch MassKara 2025 events

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD CITY — The Camera Club of Negros and the Art Association of Bacolod-Negros (AAB-N) have jointly announced a lineup of major events for the 2025 MassKara Festival during a press conference held Tuesday at Bar 21 Restaurant.

The Camera Club of Negros officially launched the MassKara Photo Contest 2025, a competition highlighting images that best capture the smiles, artistry, and spirit of Bacolod’s world-famous festival.

This year’s contest features three categories: Highlights, which includes the Electric MassKara, Street Dance, and Arena Dance; Sectoral Events, focusing on activities for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and other sectors; and Street Stories (Freestyle), showcasing candid moments that embody the festival’s essence.

Cash prizes ranging from PHP 5,000 to PHP 20,000 are at stake.

A PHP 1,500 registration fee entitles each participant to an official MassKara Photographer’s Kit and an all-access festival pass.

Winning photographs will be exhibited publicly and may be included in the future collection of the Bacolod MassKara Museum.

Complementing the contest is “Hinumdum: MassKara Through the Years,” a photo exhibition opening on Sept. 15, 2025, at SM Bacolod, which will feature both archival and contemporary images tracing the evolution of the festival.

Meanwhile, AAB-N, the country’s longest-running provincial art group and founding organization of the MassKara Festival, unveiled three major art events in celebration of its 50th anniversary participation.

The first is an On-the-Spot MassKara Painting Competition, free and open to Bacolodnon artists, with materials provided to promote inclusivity.

The second is a MassKara Making Contest, a revival of the original paper-mâché mask tradition with logistical and material support for local designers and artists.

The third is the MassKara Mask-Higante Puppet Competition, marking the return of giant puppets with the theme “Toto and Inday sa MassKara” to represent children as symbols of hope and the future.

AAB-N also announced plans for a collaborative digital archive project with the Camera Club of Negros to preserve the festival’s visual history.

In a statement, AAB-N called the 50th year of the festival “a testament to resilience, creativity, and the power of art to unite people,” while paying tribute to the late founder Ely Santiago and the group’s pioneering members.

Among those present at the press conference were Dr. Ronel Sario, board member of the Camera Club of Negros; Aeson Baldevia, president of the Camera Club of Negros; Tey Sevillano, president of AAB-N; and Lian Enumerable Bobe, media and public relations representative of the Bacolod Gugma Foundation, the official festival organizer led by Rodney Mitz Ascalon.