Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian
The archipelago of Puerto Rico is full of history and traditions that have been evolving for centuries since the times of Native Tainos and then with arrival of the Spanish, African slaves and most recently the US presence since 1898 to date.
The capital city of San Juan was founded 1521 by Spanish settler, Juan Ponce de Leon. La ciudad amurallada (fortified), Viejo San Juan is the stronghold islote (little island) city for the Spanish to protect themselves from other European powers eying to take over “the rich port” of Puerto Rico. The city of Old San Juan is full of centuries old architecture with two main military fortresses (San Felipe del Morro & Castillo San Cristobal), Catholic churches, plazas and the UNESCO World Heritage, La Fortaleza, which is the current official home of the Governor of the Puerto Rico.
Presently, Las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián has become the largest annual festival in the archipelago. Calle San Sebastián is synonymous with nightlife, a thriving restaurant-bar scene and home to the world-famous bar, La Factoria where the video for the “Despacito” song by Luis Fonsi was filmed. Las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián, also known as Las Fiestas de la “SanSe” honors (January 20th) the Catholic Church Saint Sebastian. Established in the 1950's, the festival nowadays draws over 200,000 attendees. After a hiatus in the 1960's, the festival came back with full force in the 1970's with the helping hand of historian and anthropologist, Dr. Ricardo Alegria and longtime resident of Calle San Sebastian, Rafaela Balladares de Brito.
In the 2010's, US mainland Puerto Ricans took a piece of the island to commemorate the four-day festival with their own festival in cities such as Orlando and Miami, Florida and Dallas, Texas. The festival is a celebration of Puerto Rican identity, heritage and history serving as a platform for local artists, artisans, bomba y plena performances, cabezudos (big heads) dancers of Puerto Rican folklore characters, parranda style music up and down the streets, live music with three main stages and of course lots of traditional foods and drinks. Famous music artists such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, Calle 13, Tito Rojas, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Ricky Martin, Kany Garcia, Lucecita Benítez, Olga Tañón, Ednita Nazario, Yolandita Monge, Manny Manuel, Ile, José Feliciano, Glenn Monroig, Vico C, Buscabulla, Mima and the Pleneros de la Cresta to name a few, have performed in the SanSe!
For families with children, the daytime activities are highly recommended. For the bohemian folks, the early evening hours are best and for the younger crowd of 16 and older, Friday and Saturday after 9pm is party central. This festival also gives a warm farewell to the longest holiday season in the world. In Puerto Rico the holiday season starts a week before Thanksgiving and ends the third week of January! Planning a visit? Highly recommended to book your flights/hotels the sooner the better. The weather is perfect, the humidity is low and there are so many things to do! Nothing like the holiday season in la isla del encanto.
¡Nos vemos en la Sanse!