11th Duman Festival, Sta. Rita Pampanga

"Duman..... atin ng duman... duman... mabanglung duman"

Aside from the 1st class relic of St. Rita de Cascia, the small town of Sta. Rita is well known for its sweet delicacies, the turrones de casoy (local version of nougat), sansrival, yema, suman and duman. Duman is the flat and green rice that I love to mix in tsokolateng batirol or even eat it on its own. This is totally different from the one some vendors are selling in Baguio na pinipig. Those vendors often sells their pinipig Duman Sta. Rita. You will never find Duman Sta. Rita sold outside the town.

The Sta. Rita duman comes from the red malagkit variety, planted during the monsoon season (July), harvested around November. Dahil sa matagal na proseso bago mabuo ang duman...it is the most expensive rice in the Philippines. Ang isang kilo ay Php 2,500 ang halaga.

This 2012 is the 11th year of the Duman Festival. It was organized by the theater group Arti Sta. Rita in cooperation with the local government. It is held every first Saturday of December. Ngayong taon, medyo kakaiba ang location. Noong unang dalawang taon ay sa barangay Sta Monica ginanap, then sa patio ng simbahan sa tabi ng town plaza. Ngayon ito ay naganap sa dike, overlooking the small town.

Maraming mga bisitang turista mula sa ibang bayan. Maging mga culinary students sa isang university sa Manila ay bumisita din. Maraming booths na ang paninda ay pawang produkto ng bayan.Tables and chairs were provided para sa mga kakain. Meron ding namigay ng libre...libreng photobooth at libreng juice.

The sarsuela started around 7pm.

After an almost two hours of brilliant performance, the town mayor announced the good news. An ice cream company included Pampanga in the Best of the Philippines. Duman favored ice cream!

Posted in: Duman, Duman Festival, food, Pampanga, Region 3, travel