Bacolod City Travel Guide, Philippines

Bacolod City is regarded as the Philippines’ City of Smiles. It is the capital city of the province of Negros Occidental. Bacolod has been recorded as the cleanest and greenest city in the country which makes it the most livable. A lot of locals and foreigners could take leisure trips to the place and other towns in the province. Take a peak at what’s in store for you if you plan to travel to the city.

Getting to Bacolod

Your access to the place could be supported by three major transports via air, sea, and land. If you come from Manila, you could arrive at the place in 55 minutes via three major airlines which are the Philippine Air Lines, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines. If you come from Cebu, a 30-minute airplane ride will take you to Bacolod. Bacolod Downtown will bring you to the new Bacolod-Silay International Airport with a 20-minute land transportation ride.

If you want to experience riding on high-end vessels, a trip to Bacolod from Manila could last up to 20 hours. From Iloilo, you could take seacrafts and arrive at the city in 55 minutes. Taking a bus ride is also possible via the so-called RORO (Roll On Roll Off). This will take you to Bacolod via the ports of Iloilo, Caticlan, Roxas and Batangas and the trip could last as long as 18 hours.

Climate

The wet season is experienced in Bacolod City from May to January of the succeeding year. The rest of the year is dry and April is the hottest month with a temperature which could go as high as 88.5˚F. Heavy rain fall is experienced from August to September while the coolest months are December and January. The lowest recorded temperature is 74.8˚F.

MassKara Festival

This is the most famous festival in Bacolod City. It is described as a thousand smiles per minute and is derived from two foreign terms. “Mass” is derived from an English word which means many while “Kara” comes from the Spanish term which means face. Translating it literally, the festival means many faces. While participants wear their masks, you could see the different faces of the people.

MassKara Festival had repeatedly represented the Filipino nation in some of Asia’s most renowned festivities. These are the Chinggay Festival in Singapore, Lunar Festival in Hongkong, International Tourism Festival of Shanghai and the Midosuji Festival Parade in Japan. This event is held every October.

Attractions

There are several places which both locals and tourists would be interested about. One of the most famous tourist attractions could be found right in front of it’s city hall. The spot is called the Fountain of Justice and was established to commemorate the signing of the Spanish surrender to local forces.

If you want to explore more of the area, you have a lot of other options from religious places to parks. Included in the list are the San Sebastian Cathedral, Palacio Episcopal, Museum Negrense de La Salle and Yulo’s Park.