SanSe 2014

San Sebastian street - packed

When you mention that you will be in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico in January to anyone from Puerto Rico, their immediate response is, "Oh, so you'll be here for SanSe."  Then their face changes, and they go into a list of negatives about the event.  It's loud, dangerous, dirty, full of drunks.  Go out in the morning, see all the artists, and then lock your doors after noon. There are so many people you are going to get separated and lost... The stories and the advice went on and on.  You would think this was only coming from the older generation who couldn't keep up with the antics of a late teen, early 20 something crowd - but no.  As I talked to younger people in and around San Juan, they all said that they avoid the festival. 

Well, this didn't bode well as Jon and I had no way of avoiding the festival, we live on San Sebastian Street which is where the whole thing takes place!
It is a 4 day event with 4 stages for live music and performances, 100's of booths for artisans selling their pieces, 100's of booths for food vendors, and every bar and restaurant is open day and night (almost). Parades start everyday around 4:00.

Let's start with the parades...

Shows during the day.

Trying on a new look.

The parades are a combination of organized processions including different community groups, stilt dancers, giant heads, musicians, and impromptu bands or performers who just have enough people to march down San Sebastian Street and get the crowd hyped.  Both types are a blast.  The music and the energy of the people is infectious, and the crowd is ready to join in at a moment's notice.  People bring their instruments including drums and horns and indigenous percussive tools to the SanSe festival the way we would carry a water bottle, "Gonna need this when we get there!"

The artists are fantastic.  Selling jewelry, sculpture, leather goods, glassware, clothing, paintings; you name it, and it was for sale at the festival on every end of the financial spectrum.  The food is typical street food, there's a lot of grease and sugar and it's really good for soaking up alcohol.  Yes, it is a street festival and drinking in the streets is allowed.  Medalla (beer) and Gasolina (punch with alcohol) are the national drinks of PR.  And they are sponsors of the festival.  We had to partake!
Transportation in and out of the city is by public bus only.  You must park your car 1 - 2 miles outside of Old San Juan in a garage and then take a bus or walk into the city. The buses get crowded and the weather is perfect , so many people choose to walk. The streets leading into the city are packed as well as all of the streets in the old city.  The festival hosts 500,000 people in four days.

Loving it!

Jon, making a new friend.

So what did we think?  We loved it! It was certainly a luxury having an apartment to retreat to when you needed a bathroom or a little space, but we had a great time.  Friday night we checked out all of the stages, and settled on one with DJ's.  Storm Trooper was the first and Jon's favorite.  Badass was the second and my favorite.  We danced and drank and made friends.

DJ Storm Trooper lighting it up!

Saturday we headed to the artisan booths which were packed.  We helped the economy as good tourists should.

Keeping everything fun and safe.

What impressed us the most was that there was no fighting or rude drunks or filthiness as detailed in the prophecies we had heard.  Everyone was happy and dancing and hanging out.  And the best part, every night at 2:00 am the Police SHUT IT DOWN.  Everything closes, everyone has to get to a bus or ferry or be walking out of town.  Then the elves come out.  The elves get rid of all of the trash, all of it.  They wash all the streets with water and sanitizer.  Everything is shiny and new every morning when you wake up.  And when the festival is completely over, the elves take down the stages and remove all of the booths in the middle of the night.  Absolutely incredible!

From Puerto Rico - energy drinks, we don't need no stinking energy drinks!