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| FOLKLORIC AT PARADE |
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| HORSES IN PARADE |
The 55
th
Annual Swallows Day Parade in the lovely old city of San Juan
Capistrano. This is a vintage parade where just about everyone wears
western attire and horses prevail. No motorized vehicles are allowed
which includes mortorized wheel chairs. The theme this year is “Happy
Trails.
This was particularly special because my son, Ben, and his girlfriend, who were visitng from Iowa, and my daughter, Anna, and her husband were joining us. It was also a chance to visit my brother, Fred, and his good friends from Belize. We all met at my brother's home in San Juan Capistrano and then made the leisurely 20 minute walk to the town center.
We arrived at
the parade route in time to hear the National Anthem. This was
followed by members of the sponsoring Fiesta Association casually
parading through in traditional western attire. The official parade
that followed consisted of hundreds of horses, bands, military
members, flags, wagons pulled by horses, folkloric dancers, baton
twirlers and, of course, the two official poop-scoopers were very
busy in between. The parade lasted about three hours. It was a little
slow at times, but the crowd of approximately 40,000 seemed to be
having a good time.
We left a
little early to tour the town where there was live music and plenty
of libations. We walked through the well-preserved
Los Rios Historic District where the original builders of the nearby Mission lived.
The festival pays tribute to the unique history of the area which
includes the Juane
ňo
Indians who were the original inhabitants of the area. The Juane
ňo
Indians provided the manpower for building the Mission of San Juan
Capistrano in the late 1700's. The tribe is currently headquartered
here with over 2,800 active members. We were able to tour one of the
old adobe homes where they had lived.
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| ADOBE HOME |
.
The Mission of
San Juan Capistrano is famous for the annual return of the swallows
on March 19,
th St Joseph's Day. They winter in Argentina,
5000 miles away. There is a celebration at the mission every year
when the the bells ring and the children dress up as monks and
swallows. I was curious
about the swallow
return this year—it turns out they did not show up. According to
the experts they are flying a little late this year.
There were a
lot of horses in the parade and for good reason. San Juan Capistrano
is considered “The Equestrian Capital of the West Coast.” It has
over 53 miles of local trails and the Olympic Field Trials.
The entire
festival is made possible by the hard work and dedication of the
Fiesta Association which has over 250 volunteers.
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| COWBOYS AT PARADE |
Visit my post
dated November 29, 2011 for another “Vintage Journey to San Juan
Capistrano.”
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| VINTAGE DRESS AT PARADE |
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| SWALLOWS DAY PARADE |
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| Sue & Fred at the Swallows Day Parade |
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