On Memorial Day weekend the Mission District in San Francisco hosted its annual Carnaval festival and parade – a two-day celebration of the rebirth of life in Spring as celebrated by many different Latin American cultures. Chrystie and I got up early on Sunday to get to the city and catch the parade.

The three-hour parade featured many different performers…

musicians,

singers,

dancers,

and San Francisco’s own, Benjamin Bratt (of Law and Order fame) was the Grand Marshall.

Some came in colorful clothing,

some in tribal clothing,

some in hardly any clothing,

some in costumes,

and some on stilts.

Young,

and old,

and furry.

Doing flips,

riding Bart,

and just going “wild”.

The parade was a blast.

The festival, on the other hand, left much to be desired. Chrystie and I were really looking forward to some authentic Latin American cuisine, but to our disappointment, only the generic festival food was on hand – burgers, dogs, fried corn and garlic fries. There were food trucks scattered about, but they only sold tacos and burritos. We were really hoping for something you couldn’t just get at Taco Bell – pupusas, flan, horchata, elotes, and the like.

The festival felt more like a farmer’s market with the majority of booths peddling their wares, the majority of which didn’t have anything to do with celebrating Latin America. I will say, however, that I thought the lucha libre mask shop was pretty cool.

Not finding much to stick around for, aside from a jalapeno eating contest a few hours away, we headed home feeling much more festive than we came.

See many more of my Carnaval photos here.