Finding your friends in a festival crowd can be its own event. Someone is watching the street dancers, someone has gone looking for food, and the group chat is filling up with “Saan na kayo?”
With Bacolod welcoming residents and visitors for MassKara, mobile connectivity becomes part of the day’s logistics—from coordinating meetups to sharing videos of the performances.
Smart Communications has expanded its 5G coverage across the City of Smiles to support the influx of tourists, creators, businesses, and festival participants. The PLDT wireless subsidiary is a telco partner of this year’s celebration, which runs from October 1 to 18, with major events scheduled for October 16 to 18.
Under the theme “Share the Smile. Celebrate Gugma.”, MassKara 2026 brings street dancing, concerts, food, sports, and community activities to venues across Bacolod.
More connectivity for a busy festival weekend
Smart says the expansion strengthens network capacity as more people gather around the city and use their phones to navigate the festivities, contact companions, and post their favorite moments.
“Our 5G expansion in Bacolod strengthens our network capacity as the city comes alive for MassKara, helping residents and visitors stay connected as they experience the festival and share their moments with family and friends. With Smart 5G, we enable our subscribers to experience the difference of faster, more reliable connectivity, whether they are livestreaming the street dance competitions, video-calling loved ones, or discovering the many activities happening across the City of Smiles,” said Lloyd R. Manaloto, First Vice President and OIC for Smart.
The company also turned over Smart Home WiFi 5G Max devices to festival organizers to support connectivity during the celebration, including internet access for festivalgoers.
Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya received the devices alongside Smart representatives Ed Tinio, Assistant Vice President and Visayas Cluster Head; Art Lamayo Jr., Senior Manager for Negros Island Region; and Art Labrador, Customer Development Manager for Bacolod.
Where the MassKara action is happening
The street dance and arena competitions are among the festival’s main attractions. The street dance competition takes place along Araneta Street, while the arena competition will be held between the bridgeways of SM City Bacolod.
The lineup also includes Electric MassKara, Miss Bacolod MassKara 2026, and community, sporting, food, and entertainment activities.
Concerts and other events are spread across the Bacolod City Government Center, Bacolod Public Plaza, SM City Bacolod, Ayala Malls Capitol Central, Megaworld, and other locations around the city.
There’s plenty beyond the headline attractions, too. Festival activities include MassKareppin, MasskaRap Battle, Choreographers Showdown, PetsKara, Drum and Lyre Corps Competition, SingKara, Super KidsKara, and MassKara Hataw Sayaw sa Plaza.
That gives visitors several reasons to explore beyond a single venue—and makes agreeing on a meetup spot before everyone wanders off a very good idea.
A Smart stop between festivities
Subscribers can also visit Smart’s “Experience the Difference” zone, where activities demonstrate how 5G connectivity can support video streaming, video calls, mobile gaming, and other everyday phone use.
Smart products and exclusive offers will be available at the zone, with opportunities for customers to enjoy perks and freebies.
The company also highlighted its recognition from Ookla for Best Mobile Video Experience in the Philippines for the second consecutive year. According to Smart, the award was based on Speedtest Intelligence data for the first half of 2026, during which it recorded the highest Video Score among the country’s mobile operators.
An upgrade that stays after the celebration
While the festival provides the immediate reason for additional network capacity, Smart says the Bacolod expansion is part of its continuing investment in key tourism and economic destinations.
“MassKara brings together people from different communities to celebrate Bacolod’s culture, creativity, and spirit of joy. By strengthening connectivity in the city, we are helping residents, businesses, and visitors stay connected during and beyond the festival,” added Manaloto.
For visitors, the immediate use is keeping up with a packed MassKara itinerary and sharing the experience with people back home. For Bacolod residents and businesses, the expanded coverage remains after the stages come down.
Charge the phone, settle on that meetup spot, and leave some time between taking videos to enjoy the performances yourself.
