The Dirt On My Feet: Minasa Festival 2016, Bustos, Bulacan

“Minasa” is the name of the locally produced version of the ubiquitous uraro cookies, but this one is marked by a more toasted less sugary but tasteful flavor that sets it apart from the usual uraro fare, and which endears it to locals and visitors alike.

The Tagalog word “Minasa” is the past tense of the root word “Masa” which means to knead and/or mix together in a rolling and pressing manner, as in rolling dough. “Masa” is also the Tagalog word for the masses or general human population.

This year’s Festival inspired by the Minasa and the Masa, was celebrated from January 9 to 17, 2016, early in the year while the Southwest winds or “Amihan” still chills the morning air of the countryside. The events of the Festival celebrate the artistic and civic mindedness of the taga-Bustos, with art competition, cookfests, senior citizen “showdowns”. The Festival is capped by a street dancing parade and competition, where local students and residents join in carefully choreographed and executed dance routines showcased around the town last January 16, 2016, with the participants garbed in colorful and traditionally inspired dress. Rich local food, drinks and of course, “Minasa” delicacies were in full show around the town plaza for the week long celebration.

Bustos, Bulacan is a quiet town of mainly residential and commercial interests, lying just North of the Metropolitan Manila area, beside the Municipalities of Baliwag and Bocaue. The town features several lovely houses with rich heritage value, although some have suffered through minimal maintenance, but surely losing none of their timeless beauty. The mighty Angat River also passes through the town, and is sluiced through the Bustos Dam, one of the oldest rubber dams in Luzon. It’s residents enjoy traditionally simple lifestyle, which Manila residents crave and have access too fortunately, just forty kilometers northward.