Sugar made the City of Bacolod. As capital of Negros Occidental, Bacolod was then the richest sugar depot in the Philippines. For sometime, sugar was the top dollar earner of the country. According to the 1938-39 Negros Occidental Yearbook, some 70% of the total sugar export of the country was produced by the province.

Bacolod City is known as the the "City of Smiles". The Bacolod, as they are called, are proud of their culture as being strong willed with a warm heart. Bacolod also boasts of antique houses, old churches that dates back during the Spanish time, and other cultural sites.

Bacolod's biggest annual event, the Maskara Festival, is a Mardi Gras-like celebration that features masked and costumed street dancers, with fairs and carnivals. This is held on the third week of October, and coincides with the city's Charter Day celebration.

Bacolod’s most popular fiesta, is celebrated on the third weekend of October closest to October 19, the city’s charter day anniversary. Festivities kick off with food fairs, mask-making contests, brass band competitions, beauty and talent pageants, a windsurfing regatta, drinking and eating contests, trade fairs and exhibits. The climax is a mardi-gras parade where revellers don elaborate mask and costumes and dance to Latin rhythms Rio de Janiero style.

San Sebastian Cathedral, Bacolod, is made of coral stones and lime quarried from nearby Guimaras Island. The Chapel of Santa Clara ha a unique mural mosaic of the Virgin Mary, made up of 95,000 polished shells. The Chapel of Cartwheels, in Manapla, was constructed using old carabao cartwheels.