San Pascual

With so many festivals in the country, why check out the Isla Rancho Festival in San Pascual, Masbate? In a province known mainly for its vast fields for grazing cattle and cowboys overlooking the many ranches of its three islands, it is interesting to see how this cowboy culture is infused with their celebration in reverence to their patron saint San Pascual. The Isla Rancho Festival Streetdance competition was one of the highlights of their 8-day Isla Rancho Festival. This colorful spectacle from performances from eight groups of the 22 villages in San Pascual creatively showcased the traditional festive atmosphere similar to many popular festivals in the country with a unique cowboy kick twist.

An island of ranches is what Isla Rancho means. Burias Island, one of Masbate’s three islands, is dominated by ranches hence the name. There are two main towns on the island, San Pascual on the northern end and Claveria in the middle. The Isla Rancho Festival is a festivity in San Pascual town. It is a young festival, only in its second year to entice more tourists to the region but San Pascual town itself was founded 184 years ago. The festival dates coincide with its founding anniversary, this year May 10–17, 2015.

Colorful costumes made with native materials

Cowboys and Cowgirls

The schedule for the Isla Rancho Festival Streetdance was on a Friday, May 15, 2015, the day the group was also set to leave the island. We thought we won’t be able to witness their parade but it was fortunate the program would start early in the morning. We had time to see them prepare as they assemble near the school grounds. One by one the participating groups came in and it was great to see their dazzling costumes. The festival queens were the more heavily adorned and we had a chance to see how it takes a number of people to properly attach all the items to her costume.

It takes a number of people to dress up this festival queen from Brgy Dancalan

Elaborate costume with mirrors for this queen

Like a ring of blue flames for Brgy Busing Festival Queen

Sometimes a simple cowboy belt and lasso would do for this lovely Festival Queen from Brdy Bulod

More story and photos on the next page…

Locals excitedly watch from the windows of their old homes

While festivals are really a great way to enjoy the culture of a destination, I normally don’t cover them since I don’t like the crowd at these events. The Isla Rancho Festival is still in its infancy that’s why I enjoyed it that much. I get to get close and interact with the performers. No pesky photographers blocking your view, the locals enjoy watching from their homes and they stick to the schedule which is at 7 am. We joined their parade to the pier and saw some of their street routines which mix their dance with their patron saint and hint at their daily life of tending cattle and fishing.

We weren’t able to catch the main performances though but we learned about the winners from our friend in San Pascual Karl. Congratulations to the following.

Champion: Brgy Dancalan/Pinamasingan/Cueva
1st Runner Up: Brgy Mapanique/Quintana/Halabang
2nd Runner Up: Brgy Busing/Iniwaran

The Isla Rancho Festival is still young but it has good qualities to make it really popular in the coming years. Hey everyone at some point wants to become a cowboy right? Well, this festival is a chance to see them and their way of life. Burias Island is a lot more accessible than the other islands of Masbate so I wouldn’t be surprised if tourism would grow in the coming years.