The news webite gmanetwork.com covered the recent Lechon Festival in Bacolod City, the seventh year of the festival that once again drew a lot of people from here and abroad who came to witness and be part of the celebration. Of course, many visitors go to Bacolod not only for the festival but also to taste the tastiest pork dish with crispy skin and delicious taste, the famed lechon.

Hog-raising is the major livelihood of the Bacoleños, and to give thanks they commemorate it through the annual Lechon Festival celebrated every January 13. The Lechon Festival this year was participated in by 31 barangays of the city. The highlight of the festival is the procession that features lechon clad with unique and colorful costumes and decorations. The lechon parade is the main feature of the festival, and visitors from all over enthusiastically take part of the celebration.

This big event saw the presence of Bacolod Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia and Vice Mayor Thaddy Sayson, Councilors Mona Dia Jardin, Sonya Verdeflor, Em Ang, former councilor Greg Gasataya, SK’s Israel Salanga, former CENECO Pres. Ed Guillem, Silver Masskara Festival Director Eli Francis Tajanlangit, philantrophist Chito Lizares Jalandoni, and City Administrator Atty. John Orola.

Website https://ndb-online.com quoted Mayor Evelio as saying:”The festival is one-of-a-kind as the lechons were paraded in costumes, masks with some reminiscent of the MassKara Festival, bikinis and umbrellas to protect the lechon from the sun.” The Mayor, in thanking the cooperative residents of the barangay, recalled the humble beginnings of the MassKara Festival to its present international fame.