Bacolod City did not celebrate the world-famous MassKara Festival this October for the first time in four decades as local authorities continue to grapple with the coronavirus disease 2019, Covid-19.

The highlights of the MassKara Festival’s 41st year was scheduled on Sunday, October 25. But Mayor Evelio Leonardia cancelled this year’s festivity through Executive Order (EO) 62 released on September 21.

Despite the cancellation, the festival spirit is still present. In commemoration of the fourth Sunday of October as the highlight of what could have been the 41st MassKara Festival, the city government instead launched a virtual celebration of the festival yesterday afternoon via SkyCable Channel 53.

The virtual celebration looked back at the festival’s champion performances.

To recall, Leonardia stated on his EO that facts and scientific studies supported by empirical data established that mass gatherings can be an effective channel of transmitting and spreading infections, like the Covid-19, among the population.

Thus the mayor deemed it prudent to suspend all the MassKara’s public celebration and related revelries or activities to comply with the health and safety protocols in stemming the local spread of infections./WDJ