San Sebastian Street Fiestas… An Exercise in Dissonance

Orig­i­nal Cabezu­dos. I shot this pic­ture sev­er­al years ago with­out know­ing what I was shooting.

It’s almost that time of year, when peo­ple from all parts of the world con­verge in Old San Juan to cel­e­brate “Las Fies­tas De La Calle San Sebas­t­ian”, the largest street fes­ti­val in the world tak­ing place dur­ing the month of Jan­u­ary.  But this time around there’s sta­t­ic in the air.  The orga­niz­ing com­mit­tee is fight­ing the may­oress and the may­oress is fight­ing the orga­niz­ing com­mit­tee.  Togeth­er they’re throw­ing away the baby with the bathwater.

Offi­cial Itin­er­ary. Click on image to see it larger.

Here’s just one exam­ple.  A few min­utes before writ­ing this arti­cle I was try­ing to get a copy of this year’s itin­er­ary.  That should be a sim­ple enough task in an Inter­net con­nect­ed world, right?  Wrong!!!  The only one avail­able (obvi­ous­ly put togeth­er by the Munic­i­pal Gov­ern­ment) does­n’t include the events that are under the purview of the Orga­niz­ing Com­mit­tee. And if you’re look­ing for one in Eng­lish for­get it.  That beast does­n’t exist!

Now, here are a cou­ple of ques­tions for the pow­ers at be from both sides.  Isn’t Old San Juan the capi­tol of Puer­to Rico?  Isn’t Old San Juan Puer­to Rico’s crown jew­el when it comes to tourism?  Should­n’t the San Sebas­t­ian Street Fies­tas be a tourist mag­net like few oth­ers dur­ing the month of Jan­u­ary?  Oh, and one last ques­tion… Isn’t Jan­u­ary the peak of Puer­to Rico’s tourist season?

Now, here’s some­thing that makes no sense to me.  If the answer to all the above ques­tions is yes, should­n’t both sides stop try­ing to derail each oth­er and work togeth­er for the sake of Puer­to Rico?  Heav­en knows that we need the tourism dol­lars and the world­wide exposure.

Last year you could cut the ten­sion with a knife.  Each side was doing its thing but you could breathe the sep­a­rate­ness.  It was all around you.  This year it’s got­ten worse.  They even took the mat­ter to court over patent and copy­right issues.  Why is it that a group of Puer­to Ricans can’t get togeth­er and work as a team?

Here’s a sug­ges­tion before I get off my soap­box.  Instead of going at each oth­er’s throats, a few weeks before the event, why don’t they start the fight­ing in Feb­ru­ary and bick­er all year long.  Maybe that way they’d ham­mer out a solu­tion before next year and the world won’t be deprived of one of its most col­or­ful events.

Final­ly, this year there will only be only one “com­parza” (cabezu­do parade) with the orig­i­nal cabezu­dos, which iron­i­cal­ly is the emblem­at­ic event that added col­or to the fies­tas sev­er­al times through­out each of the four days.  I obtained this infor­ma­tion direct­ly from a mem­ber of the orga­niz­ing com­mit­tee. It will take place on Thurs­day, Jan­u­ary 15, around 5:00pm; right after cut­ting the inau­gur­al ribbon.

OTHER ARTICLES ON PUERTO RICO BY GPS
ABOUT THE SAN SEBASTIAN STREET FIESTAS

• The 2014 San Sebas­t­ian Street Fies­tas Are Underway!
• San Sebas­t­ian Street Fies­tas 2014… Let The Par­ty Begin!
• Meet The Cabezu­dos… San Sebas­t­ian Street Fies­tas 2014

©2015,Orlando Mer­gal, MA
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