My best guess for the dates of the 2014 San Sebastian Festival will be Thursday, January 16 to Sunday, January 19, 2014. This is only an educated guess….dates have not been confirmed and official dates usually are not confirmed until late in the year.

It is no secret that people in Puerto Rico know how to party, especially around the Christmas holidays. Announce that there will be a parade, music, dancing, libations, food — then add in local artisan crafts for sale — and it all adds up to one crazy celebration!

That is the San Sebastián Street Festival (Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián) in a nutshell. It has been an annual event on Calle San Sebastián in Old San Juan since 1970, and what started as community fund-raiser has become THE festival to go to. Loads of locals and tourists attend this 4-day event.

Early Festivals

San Sebastián (Saint Sebastian) was a Christian who was martyred for his faith. There is a street on the north side of Old San Juan named in his honor.

The original "festival" (in the 1950′s) was organized by a priest at the San Jose Church, which is located on San Sebastián Street, to celebrate the feast day of San Sabastián. The annual feast-day festival lasted only a few years.

In 1970, the festival was restarted and it has been held annually ever since. It always occurs around San Sebastián’s feast day, which is January 20th. The festival is typically held on the third weekend of January, and runs from Thursday to Sunday. Double check exact dates before making vacation plans around these dates as things have been known to change from year to year.

San Se Today

The San Se Festival has evolved over time, though it still is full of tradition and Puerto Rican cultural heritage. Mostly, it is a great big party, with people enjoying every aspect of it. It is attended by hundreds of thousands of people, who are very much part of the entertainment scene. Folks line the colorful balconies along Calle San Sebastián, and the rest of the parade route, watching and shouting to the throngs of people in the streets below. It’s basically the Puerto Rican version of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras, without the beads.

In 2013, the festival will be held from Thursday, January 17 through Sunday, January 20.

There are lots of live music shows, both traditional and contemporary. The musicians perform on stage at the Plaza del Quinto Centenario, and also ramdomly & spontaneously throughout the streets, where people join in the song and dance. There are plenty of dance performances, both folkloric and modern, by professionals and party-goers alike. And all along the parade routes you will find food, drink, and artisans displaying/selling their works.

There will be some artisans along Calle San Sebastián, but the main artisan areas are Cuartel de Ballajá. You will find other artisan set-ups throughout the rest of Old San Juan, too.

Things are generally calm, and you will see lots of families, during the day. As the day turns into night, you will see more young people (and fewer families) who are enjoying the lifting of the ban on public drinking in the streets around the Calle San Sebastián area. The police do set up barricades at the limits to contain the on-street drinking.

On Thursday and Friday, the festivities start at about 5pm. But it goes all day and night on Saturday and Sunday. There is a curfew enforced (Thursday and Sunday at 12 midnight and Friday and Saturday 1 am) so that the people that live there can get some sleep.

Itinerary for 2013 Festival*

Plaza Quinto Centenario is the main stage for the 2013 festival. Unless otherwise noted, the following events will take place in Plaza Quinto Centenario.

Thursday, January 17 — Live Music in Plaza Quinto Centenario

• 10am: Artisans at the Cuartel de Ballajá and the National Gallery until 10pm
• 10am: Artisans at Casa Blanca until 5pm
• 5pm: Parade with cabezudos and the ribbon cutting ceremony, starting at the Abraham Lincoln School and continuing down Calle San Sebastian to Plaza Quinto Centenario
• 6:30pm: SanSe 2013 Awards & Dedication Ceremony — This 43rd Festival is dedicated to Robi Draco Rosa
• 8pm: Así canta Puerto Rico — Live music with Luisito Vigoreaux, Jr
• 10pm: Live music with Sonora Ponceña

Friday, January 18 — Live Music in Plaza Quinto Centenario

• 10am: Artisans at the Cuartel de Ballajá and the National Gallery until 10pm
• 10am: Artisans at Casa Blanca until 5pm
• 5pm: Parade with cabezudos, starting at the Abraham Lincoln School and continuing down Calle San Sebastian to Quinto Centenario Plaza.
• 5pm: DJ Carlos Fernández
• 7:30pm: Barreto y su plena
• 9pm: Orquesta La Mulenze
• 10:30pm: Luisito Carrión y su orquesta
• 12 midnight: Andy Montañz

Saturday, January 19 — Live Music in Plaza Quinto Centenario

• 9am: Parade with pleneros and cabezudos, starting at the Abraham Lincoln School and continuing down Calle San Sebastian to Quinto Centenario Plaza.
• 10am: Artisans at the Cuartel de Ballajá and the National Gallery until 10pm
• 10am: Artisans at Casa Blanca until 5pm
• 1pm: Humacao Children’s Rondalla (musical concert with stringed instruments)
• 1pm: Parade with pleneros and cabezudos, starting at the Abraham Lincoln School and continuing down Calle San Sebastian to Quinto Centenario Plaza.
• 2:30pm: UPR Carolina Campus Choir
• 3pm: Parade with pleneros and cabezudos, starting at the Abraham Lincoln School and continuing down Calle San Sebastian to Quinto Centenario Plaza.
• 3:30m: Grupo Gira Criolla
• 4:30pm: Guasábara Combo
• 6pm: Orquesta La Exclusiva
• 7pm: Mantarraya
• 8pm: Balie de Epoca con la Orquesta Juan Morel Campos
• 9pm: Pleneros Con Cache
• 10:30pm Tito Rojas

Sunday, January 20 — Live Music in Plaza Quinto Centenario

• 9am: Parade with pleneros and cabezudos, starting at the Abraham Lincoln School and continuing down Calle San Sebastian to Quinto Centenario Plaza.
• 10am: Artisans at the Cuartel de Ballajá and the National Gallery until 10pm
• 10am: Artisans at Casa Blanca until 5pm
• 11am: Memorial Mass in the San Juan Cathedral, with the String Quartet of San Juan
• 1pm: Eco Raíces
• 1pm: Parade with pleneros and cabezudos, starting at the Abraham Lincoln School and continuing down Calle San Sebastian to Quinto Centenario Plaza.
• 2:30pm: Homenaje a Myrta Silva
• 3pm: Parade with pleneros and cabezudos, starting at the Abraham Lincoln School and continuing down Calle San Sebastian to Quinto Centenario Plaza.
• 4pm: Decimanía con Edwin Colón Zayas
• 6pm: Plena Libre
• Last-minute schedule change … It was announced on Sunday that the Festival will end at 7pm.
• 7:30pm: Mickey Cora y su orquesta Cábala
• 9:30pm: Papo Cocote y su Nuevo Montuno

*Itinerary/schedule provided to us by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company

Public Transportation To/From Old San Juan

The Department of Transportation is expecting half a million people to attend the festivities in Old San Juan over the four days. It is highly recommended that you use public transportation versus trying to drive into Old San Juan.

The Tren Urbano, the ferries (Acuaexpreso) between Old San Juan and Hato Rey and Catano, AMA buses, and the Metrobus will be operating with extended hours during the Festival. Public transportation will run until 1am on Thursday, 2am on Friday, 3am on Saturday, and 12 midnight on Sunday. Buses and ferries are supposed to be running every 15 minutes on those days.

If you want to take the Tren Urbano, there are parking lots at the Bayamon Central station, Bayamon Sports, Martinez Nadal, Torrimar and San Francisco stations.

AMA and Metrobus will operate special routes between Sagrado Corazon and la Isleta de San Juan to the bus terminal in Old San Juan at Covadonga.

If you plan to take a ferry into Old San Juan, there are parking lots near the ferry terminals in Hato Rey and Catano.

We’ve gone to the festival a couple times

Right off the bat, I will say that we hate crowds. So for us, it was just too many people to be the least bit enjoyable. But people who enjoy mingling with 100,000 of their closest friends will have a great time. It is a bright, colorful, and loud festival!

The first time we went, we got there mid-afternoon on Saturday or Sunday. Big mistake. It was wall-to-wall people. We couldn’t move, let alone see anything. We made a quick exit.

Last year, we went early on Thursday, the first day of the festival. We drove into Old San Juan and found parking in our usual parking deck without incident. We had a couple hours before the parade started, so we had plenty of time (and space) to go up and down Calle San Sebastian to check things out. Then we enjoyed the parade, and got out of Old San Juan before 8pm (and before it got too crazy). It worked out great for us!

My favorite parts of the parade are the vejigantes (masked, clown-like characters), the gigantes (stilt walkers), and the cabezudos (huge, paper mâché heads).

The cabezudos are comical representations of people who are important to Puerto Rican history or heritage. You might see cabezudos of Juan Bobo and his pig (children’s story characters), Maximina la Loca (a wacky dancing girl), La Jíbara (a country woman), famous people like Diplo (a local musician), Ramon Rivero (a local comedian), Maso Rivera (a cuatro player), Toribio (a Güiro player), and Dona Fela (first female mayor of San Juan).

What to Expect at SanSe or Elsewhere in Old San Juan

Traffic is a nightmare, so don’t even try to drive into Old San Juan. Seriously. You will spend hours in traffic and have a huge problem finding parking. We know, because we’ve done it. And when you do find parking, you’ll find teenagers who will try to make you pay for on-street parking (with a promise to "watch" your car for you).

If you want to attend the festival, your best bet would be to find lodging in Old San Juan. The next best thing is to stay or park in Condado, Isla Verde, Santurce, Hato Rey, or Catano, and take a bus or ferry into Old San Juan. They will be running extra buses for the festival (though we haven’t seen any announcements about schedules nor routes).

On Calle San Sebastián, there will be a sea of people. So many people that you can hardly walk. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

People will be drinking. A lot. So, occasionally, there are some "issues" between the revelers. But that’s part of the fun, right?

They do bring in portable restrooms for the festival, and you can expect them to be well-used (to put it politely).

Bring cash for purchases, there is no time for credit card transactions.

It will be HOT, day or night. So drink plenty of water (between those other drinks) to stay hydrated.

For Cruise Ship People — It will take an extra long time to travel between your ship and the airport, or from the fesitvties in Old San Juan to the Pam Am Pier. Plan accordingly so you don’t miss your ship. The usual 15-minute drive can take hours.

For more info, call the San Juan Tourism office(787-721-0169), or the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (787-722-1709).

The organizing committee for the San Sebastian Festival has a web site that you can check for more information.

The "street scene" photo was taken by Liz Saldaña.