Lifestyle and Leisure En11: With Love From The City Of Smile

With Love From The City Of Smiles

Iya Villanueva

“When strangers become friends and moments turn to unforgettable memories, you know you are home. Where your heart is.” When I first heard this in the Negros Love Dance Festival’s trailer, my first thought was that the whole event was being overly dramatized. It was just all hype and people succumbing to the mainstream. I had not gone to the first two Love Dance Festivals, one in 2013 and one in 2014. My friends who went just told me stories about the people who got drunk, so I thought I wasn’t really missing out on anything. It’s just a bunch of teens dancing and getting drunk in an outdoor festival.

I arrived at the venue at 9:30pm, a bit late for something that starts at 12nn. I was immediately annoyed because I had to step out of my car at an area quite far from the venue. My car could no longer come to a nearer place or else it would be stuck forever, so I decided to walk to the entrance. Getting there, though, didn’t make me feel any better. The line to get inside was too congested. Entering was such a hassle because people were being inspected; to make sure they weren’t bringing in illegal substances or deadly weapons. Another cause of congestion was that a lot of tickets were fake. Scalpers outside were selling them so they really had to check every ticket. I finally got in and as I stepped onto the field, a refreshing burst of music and lights welcomed me.

My friends were all the way in the front of the field, right in front of the stage. I caught up to them and immediately joined in dancing to the beat. A mix of local and foreign DJs graced the stage. It seemed as though the whole island was jumping with one heartbeat.

Even the rain did not stop us from having a great time. For a moment, people left to take cover. But after a while, we all went back to the field. We didn’t even care how muddy it already was (it was literally so muddy that I had to throw away my shoes after the event). It’s definitely one of those events where you leave with no regrets because no matter what happens, everyone surely had a good time. It definitely made me love Bacolod even more.

The Negros Love Dance Festival debuted in the summer of 2013 as Bacolod City’s first massive outdoor music festival. Ryan Saez, event director for Love Dance, said that Headrush multimedia, the team behind NLDF, basically coined the concept of “Love Dance” through the inspiration it has drawn from similar electronic music festivals worldwide. Headrush decided to take a huge leap and make one for Negros making a mark while revolutionizing tourism for the province.

Bacolod is already known worldwide for its Masskara Festival, which is held every October. During this festival, Lacson Street, Bacolod City’s longest street, is closed and a weekend-long celebration is held. The street parties are the main attraction. This is where the people of Bacolod developed their party-loving attitudes. Naturally, the talk of a massive music festival in the middle of the summer got the people excited, because they no longer had to wait ‘til October to party.

Headrush used the most well known means of disseminating information: social media. I first heard about NLD from a video my friend shared on Facebook. They make trailers that not only encourage people to go, but also show what really happens in the festival using video clips. After every NLD, an official “aftermovie” is released. It is much awaited by the festivalgoers in hopes of seeing themselves in it.

The Love Dance Festivals have significantly grown since the first headcount of only 2000 people in 2013, to an astounding 10,000 people in 2015. It grew to be so famous, that the succeeding Love Dance festivals got more and more sponsors. Famous bloggers and even celebrities attended Love Dance and posted about it on their social media accounts. Many people went to love dance to see their favorite celebrities.

Love Dance 2015 was a great one for me. I got to take a picture with Laureen Uy and Nicole Anderson, two lifestyle bloggers whom I look up to. The acts were really amazing and I really enjoyed. There was set where a DJ let his kids take the set and I was amazed at how his two sons performed even though they looked younger than 13. At one point, the sprayed paint across the whole grounds and it looked really cool like rainbows cascading in the sky. Walking around the grounds, there was a variety of food stalls showcasing the various homegrown cuisines Bacolod had to offer. It was cool to see a lot of foreigners there. It made me proud that they could see this side of the Bacolod people.

Pictures with Nicole Andersson and Laureen Uy were quite blurry but it was great seeing them.

After acquiring an abundance of praises, Headrush decided to extend the festival and create a Love Dance for the Masskara season. Despite the venue being quite far from the main street where Masskara is being held, people still attended and the headcount even reached to a whopping 8,000 people. “Love Dance is a time where people can escape reality for a short while to come with a lot of excitement and leave with either regrets or awesome memories” says Christian Torres, a local who has been a faithful attendee of the festival.

Being named in another article as a “worth the plane ticket” festival, I asked one local who was now studying in Manila for college if he would be willing to go home for the festival. “Yes, I would go back for Love Dance. It will be a venue to reconnect with my friends and will likewise be a good break from college life. Love Dance gives me the luxury of enjoyment and a sense of liberation.”

Headrush is proud to claim that the LOVE DANCE event is the most sought after in the island in terms of experience, consistency, safety, talent acquisition, and style. This is indeed true; I did not have to worry about the security of the place. The themes of the festivals per year are also very creative.

Negrenses are proud to have something like this to call their own. For the locals, it is a venue to feel a connection. Dancing together to a single beat feels as though the province is as one, and it’s an amazing feeling. For the people coming in from other places, they witness Bacolod. They witness the locals and catch a glimpse of how they live. Some even stay a few days after the festival to really experience Bacolod. They find a home because Bacolod has captured their hearts. The Negros Love Dance festival has formed friendships and lasting relationships. It is indeed more than just a party. It is a celebration of life, love, and freedom.