January 18, 2016

The 2016 Festas de la Calle San Sebastian ended yesterday. This is a huge event. All of San Juan is shut down to traffic; hundreds of thousands of people attend. It is four days of drink, food, music, impromptu parades, and dancing in the streets.

The festival has nothing to do with the medieval Saint Sebastian, so far as I can tell. Rather, it started about 45 years ago as a small festival on Calle San Sebastian, at that time the home of several artists and art galleries. It has evolved to a city wide festival, with six soundstages throughout the city hosting live music acts.

Preparations began several days in advance. Temporary traffic barriers were placed to create bus lanes to carry revelers to and from the city. Beer deliveries reached a fever pitch. Food stalls were erected and readied.

Getting ready for the festival. I don’t know what the date on the beer means. If that is the ‘use by’ date, there were no issues, for sure.

Once the festival began, busses ran in convoys to and from Sagrado Corazon (last stop on the urban train line) to Old San Juan, with motorcycle escort, along dedicated bus routes.

Busses into and out of Old San Juan, and some of the thousands of people they brought into the city.

Impromptu parades spring up, seemingly at random. They always have some kind of music, and sometimes effigies of people not known to me.

A parade proceeding up Calle San Sebastian, in Old San Juan. This was on Thursday night, and the crowds weren’t too bad.

Another series of parade images.

A representation of an airplane came by, first the cockpit, then rows of passengers carrying their luggage, and then the wings and tail assembly. I have no idea what this was all about.

An airplane fly-by.

Some of the parade people were on stilts. This must have been tricky – they were in large crowds, on uneven pavement. And they were dancing to the music.

Paraders on stilts, on Calle San Sebastian.

The Medalla parade group had the best of all worlds – people on stilts, strange effigies, and thought of cold beer.

A parade group generating thoughts of cold beer.

Of course, no festival would be complete without plenty of street food – pizza, corn dogs, bacalliato, arepas, empanadillas. All good stuff.

Food choices at the festival.

I imagine some of the marchers are thinking about next years festival. I sure am.