Just as the West features Halloween for ghosts and ghouls, the Chinese have a holiday to honor the departed spirits of the underworld, the Chinese Ghost Festival. It is said that ghosts roam the world every year for one lunar month. In some areas of China, visitors can see small roadside fires where believers burn paper money and other offerings to appease the restless spirits that have temporarily been released from Hades. The Chinese ghost festival falls on every 14th day of the seventh month according to the lunar calendar. The ghost festival may fall on the 15th day in some other Chinese countries too; the days vary according to the different types of Chinese dialect groups. The festival is celebrated by Chinese people in many countries.

Qi Xi, the Night of the Sevens, is also called the Chinese Valentines Day or Magpie Day. This day falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month according to the Chinese calender. Young girls demonstrate their domestic arts, on this day, and make wishes for a good husband. However, behind this day, it holds a sad love story, of two lovers, only to be reunited once a year.


A young cowherd, named Niu Laang, happend to come across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Urged on by his mischevious companion, the ox, he steals their clothes, and waits to see the result. The fairy sisters finished bathing, and elected their youngest sister, Zhinu, or weaver girl, to retrieve their clothing. She does exactly so, but in the event, Niu Laang saw her naked, and she agreed to his request for a marriage. However, Zhinu is the daughter of the Lady Queen Mother, and she was furious at the marrige of her daughter to a mere mortal. She forces Zhinu to return to heaven, never to set eyes on earth again. However, Niu Laang was steadfast, refusing to give up, since he had come to love the girl, and vice versa, and with the help of a magic ox, flies up to Zhinu’s side. But the Lady Queen Mother had many plans. Using a hairpin, she drew the Milky Way in the sky, separating the couple forever.

The Masskara Festival has been invited to perform in several key cities in the country including Manila, Iloilo Davao, and Bohol. They have also danced their way to Singapore during the Chingay Festival. It was a proud moment not just for the Bacoleños, but for the entire Filipino nation, when they won the top prize in the 2004 World Tourism Festival in Shanghai, Chaina. They also won the Best Foreign Contingent Award during the 2005 Midosuji Festival in Japan.



PhotoGallery:
http://www.bacolodcity.gov.ph/masskara_gallery.htm


info:
http://www.answers.com/topic/masskara-festival

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