‘This is us': Carnaval San Francisco showcases Latin American heritage and pride
Thousands of people turned out to celebrate the cultural heritage of Latin America and beyond during Carnaval San Francisco's parade Sunday, transforming the streets of the Mission District into a vibrant party.
Participants and spectators alike waved flags from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Bolivia and other countries, as salsa, merengue and other types of Latin music blasted in the streets during the four-hour parade, which covered 20 blocks in the historic neighborhood.
This year's Carnaval theme, 'AfroMundo: African Diaspora in the Americas,' recognized cultural creativity rooted in the Americas. Bay Area percussionist and producer John Santos and Brazilian dancer and vocalist Dandha Da Hora served as grand marshals of the parade.
'AfroMundo is a celebration of the heartbeat that connects continents,' Rodrigo Durán, executive director of Carnaval San Francisco, said in a statement. 'In John Santos and Dandha Da Hora, we have two artists whose lives and legacies embody this very rhythm — local and global, historic and contemporary, spiritual and joyful.'
The parade, which started at 24th and Bryant streets and traveled west to Mission Street, then north to 15th Street, featured more than 3,000 artists in 60 contingents.
The parade showcased all sorts of dances, from Mexican folkloric dances and Afro-Brazilian styles, including samba and capoeira. Even nontraditional dancers showed off their skills: A Recology contingent featured workers in yellow vests who danced around with blue recycling bins and green compost bins as props, with 'La vida es un carnaval' by Celia Cruz blasting in the background.
Angeles Gabriela Avila Lopez, a member of Communidad Maya Yucateca's folklorico dance group, said the parade was an opportunity to showcase her cultural heritage — and her pride.
'We want everyone to know about our culture and our traditions,' she said, dressed in a traditional garment, with a shawl over her shoulders and flowers and a ribbon in her hair. 'Although we're far from our country, from our state, we carry our country and our state in our hearts.'
She and the rest of her group performed the jarana, a typical dance from Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.
Brianna Smith's group, Beautiful Beginnings Art Collective, showcased the multicultural background of the group, including the heritage of Colombia, West Africa and Haiti.
'I feel like it's such a great way to show solidarity and unity in a city that's ever changing,' Smith said of the parade. And, she added, 'to show we're still here.'
Her contingent stood out, in part, for its massive prop: the crafted head and upper body of a woman, propped up by three members of the collective. Smith said the woman, named Moura, represented Mother Earth and the Indigenous communities that make up many heritages.
Spectators on the sidelines were just as eager to show their pride.
'I like coming here because I get to show who I am. I get to shout out my heritage,' said Jasmine Garcia, 24, of Sacramento, who was decked out in a Puerto Rico baseball jersey, Pittsburgh Pirate Roberto Clemente's 21 on the back.
She made the trip to San Francisco for the parade with her 18-year-old sister, Angela Garcia, who had a Puerto Rican flag wrapped around her torso.
'It's something I'm very proud of, and I'm glad I'm Puerto Rican,' Angela Garcia said.
San Francisco resident Donald Riggan, who was born and raised in Jamaica, said it was fun to see different backgrounds represented in the parade. He attended with his wife and daughters, ages 3 and 9.
As the floats electrified the crowd, his oldest daughter shouted in excitement when she spotted a flag she recognized: 'Dad, Jamaica right there!'
'It brings a lot of joy to my heart,' Riggan said in an interview moments later. 'She's getting excited because she's seeing the Jamaican flag and she's represented.'
The parade was bittersweet for Amparo Vigil, whose family owns Puerto Alegre. The Mexican restaurant's second location shuttered Friday on 25th Street, just a block away from the start of the parade's route. The rising costs of the business and the death of her parents in recent years led her family to decide to sell the building, Vigil said. Sunday marked the last time Vigil handed out Mexican hot chocolate and pan dulce to participants and spectators outside the restaurant.
'This is our way of connecting and giving back to the community,' Vigil said of the tradition, recalling her late father standing at the restaurant's door in past years as the contingents geared up to participate in the parade.
Vigil said she believes events like Carnaval empower the community, especially in the face of racism, classism and 'all of the atrocities' in the U.S. and around the world.
'This is us. This is Latinoamerica. This is in our blood, this is in our culture. This is us getting to show us,' Vigil said. 'We get to be in the streets and get to show us — what we look like, what we talk like, what we feel like, what we dance like. I love it.'
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