Our crew have been out and about on location shooting in the Philippines for a brand new episode in our Tough Boats series.

As luck would have they were in town to hit the vivacious street party known as Electric Masskara 2016 – in the city of Bacold, where Zoe got stuck into the action…here is the lowdown on this fabulous event:

Bacolod, officially known as City of Bacolod is a city in the Philippines Bacolod is the capital city of the province of Negros Occidental in the Philippines.

The name Bacolod was derived from the Hiligaynon word, Buklod meaning stonehill, as the city was initally set up on a stonehill. Due to Moro (Muslim) raids it was then transferred to the shoreline. Today, the original town called Daan-Banwa meaning Old Town.

Bacolod is known as the Land of Sweet People, for its culinary heritage, including its inasal (a kind of roast chicken on skewers) and sweet dessert treats. But most of all, Bacalod is known for the spectacular MassKara Festival, a popular celebration that traces its beginnings to the early 1980s, is a festival held every October by locals.

The name of the festival, MassKara is derived from the words ‘mass’ for many, and ‘kara’, a local word that translated to ‘face’. In addition, the locals use the name as a pun for the local word that translates to ‘masked’.

MassKara Festival began at a point of crisis following a sharp drop in the global price of sugar, one of Bacolod’s key crops. This negative turn of events, coupled with the loss of close to 1000 people following an accident at sea, prompted the city’s administration to hold a ‘smiling festival’ despite all the negativity at the time. The reasoning was, by getting the locals together it would be possible to sail through the tough times.

Highlights of the festival include a dance-off contest where participants show off their skills, a beauty pageant, street dancing, float parade competitions, food frenzies as well as live music – but don’t take our word for it, the photos say it all!