The Masskara Festival, a celebration held every October in Bacolod City, also known as The City of Smiles first began in 1980 during a period of crisis. The price of sugar, the entire island's primary source of revenue, was at an all-time low putting Negros Island into poverty. It was also a time of tragedy when on that same year, an inter-island vessel collided with a tanker and sank killing 700 people. The festival was to show the resilience and solidarity of the people to get up and move on.