BACOLOD City – Twelve MassKara Festival dancers from Barangay Granada in this city are finally going to Italy.
This comes after the Italian Embassy’s approval of the visa of the 12 out of 15 dancers who were invited to perform at the Philippine Independence Day celebration of the Diwa Fiesta Europa in Milan, Italy on June 29 and 30.
Earlier, the visa application of 15 MassKara dancers were denied by the Italian Embassy “due to a lack of required documentation or unclear personal situation” prior to the granting of their visa.
Councilor Jason Villarosa, the chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod committee on tourism and international relations, has issued an apology letter addressed to the Italian Embassy following some misunderstanding and miscommunication due to the earlier denial of the visa application.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, who is personally sponsoring all the expenses of the dancers and the rest of the delegation, extended his appreciation to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Italian Embassy for assisting the application and the eventual approval of the MassKara dancers’ visa.
The said group of dancers was the grand winner of the 2023 MassKara Festival street and arena dance competition./PN
