The carnival's original organizer was an American colonel named George T. Langhorne who asked the Philippine Assembly for 50,000 pesos to build a cockpit, exhibit "half-naked" Igorot tribesmen and set up curiosities.

During those two weeks of carnival, Wallace Field was walled with amakan and given a decorative facade brilliant with lights and adornments.

[2] The entrance fee range from 50 centavos and up and one can buy at the gate a mask, a horn, and a bag of confetti.

Initially, Forbes decided to restrict the contest to the daughters of the wealthiest families from the capital city of Manila but eventually accepted entries from different parts of the country.

[4] The Carnival Queens dressed the most beautiful costumes of the parade, ranging from Egyptian inspired to Siamese to that of the Arabian Scheherazade.

In 1912, for the first time aside from the carnival queen the contest chose four ladies to represent Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and America.

In 1913, three women representing Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were named as co-winners of the Manila Carnival.