Leisure: Festival seeks to put smiles back on faces – Gulf Digital News

Leisure: Festival seeks to put smiles back on faces – Gulf Digital News

PEOPLE in Bahrain can look forward to the festival of smiles that will be celebrated on Friday at Water Garden City Beach in Seef District.

The annual Grand Masskara Festival, which literally translates to ‘many faces’, is celebrated every October in Bacolod City, Philippines and is being organised in Bahrain this year by Brand Syncbh. The event is being supported by the Philippine Embassy in Bahrain and the Capital Governorate.

“With my own family from the same city, it is my honour and pleasure to bring and celebrate this event with the many Filipinos in Bahrain, after the recent pandemic,” said Brand Syncbh chief executive Cristina Fulgencio.

“I am sure the Masskara Festival will bring back the smile in everyone’s faces.”

With roots tracing back to the 1980s, the festival was created to lift locals’ spirits after an estimated one million people from the province endured the worst famines in the country’s history. There was also a tragic ship accident, with the vessel carrying mostly people from Bacolod, including those from prominent families.

The smiling masks were a declaration of the people of Bacolod City that they would pull through and survive all challenges.

Bacolod City was also bestowed with the nickname, ‘The City of Smiles’.

“This