Carnaval is a two-day festival that brings people together in the culturally rich San Francisco mission district neighborhood. This year, the 46th annual celebration, is on May 25th-26th. People from all over the Bay Area come to celebrate and have fun. There’s floats representing different countries, and coming together and celebrating the diversity of everyone.
The festival covers about 17 blocks in the Mission District, having about 50 local performers and over 400 vendors. The Grand Parade covers 20 blocks with 60 floats and over 3,000 people. These people are representing their culture and country. Countries represented include Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Bolivia, Cuba, Peru, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Trinidad, Guatemala, El Salvador, and many more participants.
Students and staff from Mission participate in Carnaval too. Two freshmen named Irma Ocampo and Gabriela Rios, are going to be participating in the parade with Fogo.
“I like it, it’s fun, exciting and you get to feel a lot of emotions when performing,” Irma said.
“The actual festival is my favorite thing,” Gabi said. “I love the environment. It’s very cultural and brings out the good side of San Francisco.”
Both Mission students have been practicing since the beginning of February, putting their hard work and dedication to the practices because they want it to come out perfect. It’s not just about making the dance perfect but instead it’s about getting close to the other performers and having fun when dancing. Gabi said, it’s a way to feel “alive” and “inspired.” Remember these performers will be dancing for more than 15 blocks. It’s might also be tiring.
Ms. Riechel, Peer Resource and Ethnic Studies teacher, has been performing with The Latin Dance group since 2012. She’s danced with a number of MHS teachers in those 12 years of participating. This year she is going to be performing with about 20 Mission High School students. They’re going to be performing zamba and a more contemporary reggaeton, and a salsason!
As a matter of fact Ms. Riechel has two kids, ages 7 and 5, and they’ve both been brought up in dancing with Carnaval.
“I’ve danced with my son when he was in the utero stage, about to pop out, and with my daughter running by me, and last year she danced with me.”
As you can tell Ms. Riechel puts her time and effort into this Carnaval. She loves the spirit it gives and how the community comes together. She involves her family in a way that others can too.
“Carnaval has been a beautiful experience because I feel like it’s a part of the community tradition and I feel like it’s a huge part of the culture of the Mission.”
It’s a beautiful time everyone should experience.You might want to bring some money with you because there’s so many food options and clothing vendors. On Sunday check out the parade. Enjoy that experience by bringing your family and friends, and a couple of chairs if you don’t want to be standing up.
