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Carnaval
Rating Details »
Category: Local Flavor [Edit]
Neighborhood: MissionMission District
24th St and Bryant St
San Francisco, CA 94110
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
30 reviews for Carnaval
Mother Nature couldn't dampen the spirit of Sunday's 2009 San Francisco Carnaval Parade with her misty fog, her breezy winds or her cold air. It was another masterpiece as parades go. I had planned to take a few photos to share with a friend who moved to Spain a couple of months ago, but my index finger got the best of me. 1026 photos later ...
I managed to delete some poor shots and get rid of others that looked similar. Some duplicated scenes still exist, but I didn't have the heart to delete them. Anyway, in case you missed the parade here is a glimpse of what my camera saw. 848 photos ... I hope you have some time to look at them all!
http://www.flickr.com/...
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/28/2008
My review is for Carnaval's Grand Parade only. Of all of the parades that take place in San… Read more »
I like that this event didn't have alcohol(even though I needed a beer to help the hangover) as it was just way too crowded!!!
Besides the music and dancing the stands were basic flea market stands.
I didn't see too much Caribbean food more Asian than other booths really.
They did have some stuff for the kids that looked pretty cool!
I don't think I would come back to this event again.
One of the worst street fairs that the city has, possibly worse than the Union Street Fair. 3 Days from H _ _ _ _ when residents are subjected to non-stop drum circles, music stages, tacky made in China merchandise, lousy food in general and hordes of people invading the 'hood, let's not mention the fact that we're not allowed to use our garages, the streets are littered with trash, food, urine etc...
It's so unpopular that the merchants on 24th Street petitioned and succeeded in having it removed from their street this year! Need I say more????!!!
Note: The parade is great. Unfortunately how bad the rest of this is kind of overshadows it. =(
This is on my street and it's awful. Giant Best Buy tents and Comcast booths and other corporate shilling, along with awful air-brush t-shirt stands and imported plastic crud. Nothing to do with a true Carnaval festival whatsoever beyond a few bands and dancers, just an excuse to Sell More Random Stuff on the street. Moreover - and I know this is my own personal grudge, but I can't help it - resident access rights are an utter nightmare. We had to argue with the gate guards every. single. time. we wanted to enter on 18th St. (after parking in our Carnaval assigned weekend space behind our apartment building), so we wouldn't have to go four blocks out of our way on foot and stand in an entry line. At one point a SFPD officer even had to step in to ask the rent-a-guards to let us get to our home!
If this was a real cultural festival that would be awesome and I'd be much happier about giving up my street access for it, but the way it is now is just cheap and kind of embarrassing.
every year in may, san francisco celebrates carnaval. it showcases latino and caribbean countries, and their cultures. people are dressed in their native and traditional costumes, and parade down the mission district. they perform authentic dances of their country's origin, play exotic instruments, and strut their stuff decked out in their gear.
a portion of harrison street is shutdown, and lined with different vendors, food booths, beer gardens, & stages for performances. you can indulge in the plethora of ethnic cuisines, have a refreshing beer, and swing your hips to the bands that play tunes for the masses.
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i've grown up going to carnaval, and was disappointed about this year's event. i felt that the presence of culture was eliminated, and replaced with corporate booths (comcast, ford, etc.), and a gaudy basketball hoop-it-up type deal. granted san francisco has raised the fee for registering booths for such events, which puts a strain on small businesses in times of recession, i feel that that this year's production lost the essence of carnaval (this is only referring to the street faire portion, and not the actual parade).
in the previous years you saw more vendors, food booths, and people dressed in beautiful costumes. this year i saw more hoodlums, and law enforcement crowd control. i appreciate that the general public's safety is being looked after, but having half of san francisco's street force walking around doesn't make for pleasant ambiance. it reminded me of being in one of the san francisco's infamous protests, and the cops who man handle them.
they didn't even have a booth that sold the traditional caribbean black eyed peas, red rice, meat of your choice, and plantains. that bummed me out, since i saved my appetite for that particular booth. i didn't even dance at the stages, as we used to samba with the beautiful women from the parade.
i miss the old carnavals.
When my baby
When my baby smiles at me I go to Rio de Janeiro
My-oh-me-oh
I go wild and then I have to do the Samba
And La Bamba
Now I'm not the kind of person
With a passionate persuasion for dancin'
Or roma-ancin'
But I give in to the rhythm
And my feet follow the beatin' of my hear-eart
...http://www.youtube.com...
When I feel blue, I like to wear my fluorescent ruffled sleeves and shiny spandex pants and come to Carnaval. I shake my maracas and ...oh who am I kidding? I have the rhythm of Dick Cheney. But I like watching others slither their hips around and do those fancy capoeira moves.
Like a lot of people, I tend to pass on the festival food only because there are a number of great pupuserias and tacquerias in the 'hood. But I loves me a parade even when I'm squeezed against the railing by some pretty aggressive folks. I did manage to take a few snaps...take a look.
Carnaval = the number one reason to shake your ass during broad daylight with complete strangers.....totally sober.
I've been to Carnaval a few times in the nearly SEVEN years I've lived in the Bay Area. It is by far the biggest street festival in SF, with the parade, and the seemingly neverending stretch of performance stages and vendors selling food, clothing, jewelry, and what have you. I usually come for the music and samba dancing - I've been dancing samba for about five years, and it is so so so so so so much fun. With all the Brazilian drumming, you can just start dancing along, right in the middle of the street, and no one will really look at you like you're crazy. More than likely, someone will come up to you and JOIN you.
I've also stood on the sidelines and watched the parade - to be honest, I can only do that for like 20 minutes, then I get really claustrophobic because let's face it, 24th Street is cramped enough as it is, and then you add about eight bazillion people standing on the sidewalks and another 2 bazillion people trying to walk by....it ain't pretty.
This year, however, I was there working at a vendor booth, which was an entirely different experience. For once I got to enjoy Carnaval without being stuck in a mass of people the entire day. It was such a trip watching all the different types of people who were walking by - costumed, thugged out, dressed to the nines...anything goes. My nine-hour shift actually FLEW by, the highlight of my day was persuading some dudes to buy a mustard colored shirt with the words "SPIT ON IT" emblazoned across the front (behold, my salesgirl skills). Everyone at Carnaval seemed to be in great spirits, and I found myself still full of energy by the end of the day.
And this year, I even got my dance on a little bit. Behind the table at our booth, yo!
It was my first time at Carnaval and I had a great time. Plus its free to get in, which is awesome. The festival stretches a good 5-6 blocks and there's a parade up on Mission.
I missed the parade but I got to check out all the food vendors, booths, and musical performances. It was a nice turnout and the weather was perfect.
Some of the food vendors had Thai BBQ plates, Indian food, garlic fries, pupusas, mixed fruit cups, mexican food, ice cream and more!
I got to try out some free sample refreshments along the way.
Also people were giving away free stuff like the Disney booth, Giants booth and Macy's were giving out discount coupons. Lots of booths contained local businesses. Also school yards were used for batting and basketball areas for the kids.
Awesome stuff. Check out the website for the next Carnaval. Cheers!
Free stuff...
Loud music...
Overpriced food...
Freely dance where ever you please...
People forced to consume alcohol in cages...
Funny...
seems like a rave...
minus the overly priced food.
Sadly, the Carnaval street fair is just a shell of what it once was. Gone are the days of the non-stop dance parties that would take up the entire 10 block stretch of the street fair until SFPD would literally turn off the power at 6pm on the dot. Although the street fair is still a prime place for families to take the kids (hopefully families realize they should be out of the area by 4ish before the "mood' shifts), it feels like the festival is trying its best to operate without pissing off anyone. However, for the price of $0... Yes, $0! Can anyone really complain?
No. 101 Stuff White People Like: Going to multicultural/ethnic street fairs.
White people will jump at any chance to attend a street fair that celebrates a culture to be able to say they are cultured.
I went to get my culture on.
The parade itself is really nice and most of the dancers are amazing. They have elaborate costumes and floats that can put Bay to Breakers to shame. All the people involved in the parade are high energy and feed off the crowd and music. You get a taste of all Latin American countries and there music while in the beautiful Mission.
Afterward, we ventured to the food and stage area and had some great Pupusas.
P.S. - you have to love the Latin culture - its the only culture where women come in all shapes and sizes and aren't afraid to show it off.
Carnaval scores a bit higher than other street fairs in the city because at least they have a parade that is pretty cool. Some of these other fairs are just a bunch of people herded together like cattle into a chain link fenced "pen" to drink beers, act stupid, buy the same crap you can get at any number of fairs and food that most of the time does not fit the theme or neighborhood they are held in. So, I guess what I am saying is I am not a big fan of most (not all) street fairs in our fine city. So why does this one score so high??
I had the pleasure of being invited to a kick ass party, 3 floors above the madness of the fair, hanging out with friends, dancing, eating, drinking mojitos and beer, people watching/flashing funny computer generated signs at the crowd below and being well taken care of by our awesome host.
The highlight though? Frank fuckin' Chu was there! I got to spend a decent amount of time sitting at the kitchen table chatting it up with Frank about the 12 Galaxies over a few Coronas. If that doesn't make for a good Carnaval I don't know what does!
It felt like a Cinco De Mayo Festival more than anything.
No Brazilian food.
No South American Food.
No Caribbean Food.
Plenty of Mexican Food.
Ample Soul Food.
Randomly, Indian Food and Crepes. Why? Odd.
Bob Marley being blared.
Usual craft fair trinkets, incense, knock-off designer bags, quirky parking placards and typical junk.
Unfortunately missed the parade, so I'll try to check that out next year and split, but otherwise not worth repeating.
I didn't go the big parade on Sunday because, to be quite honest, parades scare the shit out of me.
Chicas twirling recklessly through the crowd; children throwing things they shouldn't be throwing, such as batons and Marti Gras beads; and the most frightening of all: horses. Horses scare the bejesus out of me. No joke. Those fuckers are unpredictable.
Anyhoo, no parade for me, but I did agree to accompany my best friend on Saturday to watch her step-dad's band play.
The band: Pan Extasy, a reggae, calypso, Caribbean jazz, and ska fusion band who play colorful covers as well as original material.
The crowd: For some lame reason they set the band up in the beer garden behind a huge Budweiser truck, and then stopped serving alcohol and wouldn't let people into the beer garden to enjoy the music. So the small, yet wasted (they were locked in the beer garden with all the booze meant for the entire festival for fuck sake) crowd was pure entertainment. Unfortunately the entertainment wouldn't leave our sober asses alone.
Nice Indian Man: "To hang out here you have to dance."
Sammy Squared: "No thanks, we're good."
Red-faced white dude badly tangoing with trashed hippie chick: "Come on ladies, come dance."
SS: "Naw, we're good. Thanks"
Sammy 2's mother: "Come on girls dance, dance with me!"
Sammy 2: "Mooooom, no, we're good." Sammy 2's mother dances away and is immediately freaked by drunk dreadlock man.
Drunk Dreadlock Man shimmy shimmies up to us.
Sammy 2 starts backing up while saying "uuuggghh, leave me alone."
Then the lead singer announces over the mic that he wants a "pretty Barbie doll" to come dance, then scopes the crowd, spies Sammy 2 and her curly blond mop and announces to the crowd that she's the Barbie he was looking for. I'm not a Barbie so I found the whole exchange rather hilarious. Sammy 2 was not so amused by my laugh attack. But hey man, watching your friend get hit on by men, pretty gnarly men I might add, when she's not so into men in the first place is pure comedy.
Actually I'm not sure which was more funny....The lead singer embarrassing Sammy 2 in front of the insane crowd; the woman with the red bandanna shirt and pleather pants who used what looked like a folded up stepping stool as her dancing cane; the dude with tin foil dreadlocks; or the white couple with no rhythm who was trying to mariachi.
It was worth the long ass walk we took through the ghetto and the pleading we had to do with the doorman to let us in (no boobie shots necessary). No horses, no children, the freakiest crowd you've seen since Michael and Latoya Jackson's joint birthday party, and the humiliation of your best friend. Who needs a parade when you have hippies and Rastafarian's up on your jock? And by my jock, I mean Sammy 2's jock.
Longest.parade.ever. Seriously...it started at around 10.30am. When I arrived at 1.30pm, it was still on...an hour later, the police car finally passed and we could get around the masses.
It was a pretty cool parade, though. I'll give props for that. And so many different cultures represented and people hanging out; how great!
Great event. Big crowds watching it. A great place to take photos of people in very colorful outfits dancing. I photographed this event for three years for Mission one Hour Photo. Try to get a VIP pass if you can so then you can walk with the parade without cops stopping you.
Incredible energy. Music, lots of passion and joy. Awesome Mission District event. A yearly tradition. Get there early, watch the parade then enjoy the local food afterwards.
The parade is always a best!
This year was my BF and I's second year in a row attending the Carnaval parade festivities.
It's a great celebration of love and life!
The people, food, music, and all that's Carnval is marvelous! There are schools with kids parading with their teachers, Mayan warriors, Samba and Bolivian dancers, etc. Just an all out good time in good spirits!
Food .. from the street, we got Crazy Corn, Papusas, and Shwarmas .. mmm!!
Afterwards, the crowd tend to either go to the organized activities a few blocks away or chill at Dolores Park.
Parking may be difficult so take BART .. it's only a a block away from the celebration!!
Check out the pics .. we're definitely going back next year (again!)
I have been participating in this event since I was 5. Truly a SF twist to multiculturalism, this event has a taste of what Local Flavor truly is. Don't get caught up in the nakedness and feathers and sequins however, the children's groups are fantastic and music is wonderful.
I must say there are politics to the judging and what not like any sort of in crowd or circle, but the people organizing this event have truly stepped up to run Carnval like a tight ship the way its done in Brasil!
My favorite street fair and parade.
Awesome music.
For a parade and street fair, five stars, hands down.
My kids really enjoyed the parade last year. My only complaint is it runs through a "questionable" side of town. My favorite part is the food and music!
The festival on Harrison is really disappointing. This could be an opportunity for people to enjoy the great local restaurants and artists from the neighborhood. Instead it's basically a corporate billboard. The food available at the festival is the standard crappy chicken and pork BBQ skewers you get at any festival in the city. Two blocks away is some of the best Mexican food anywhere, and none of it is represented at the festival. The biggest attraction at the festival is a huge Best Buy tent offering an opportunity to win some electronics, pathetic. There was some good bands playing and the best thing I saw was a tent where random festival goers played drums and actually made some good music. It seems like there is a lot for kids and families.
The parade itself was ok. It would be better if it was edited down a little bit with only the better floats and dancers and music.
Warning: I have not been to Brasil, Trinidad, DR or any of those, but I know that, even when I do, SF Carnaval will have a special place in my heart. This event truly represents the spirit of San Francisco and particularly the Mission. In traditionally amazing weather, everyone - from excellent professional dancers, bands and drummers (we ARE the Latin music Mecca) to talented and/or charming kids from local schools - shakes their booty and laughs and smiles and shows their love of life and our fair city. Come around 10:30 to get good views, bring sunscreen, water and your camera, naturellement (and please check my 2006 photos, I am rather proud of them)
Fantastic costumes in this parade (see pics) that have a kaleidescope of colors. Organizers needed to tighten up between the ranks....sometimes a 3 block space in-between groups. Hunky men and very hot girls...something to appeal to all.
Good times! I was really surprised to see the amount of people and the length of time the parade ran...probably about 2 1/2 hours. It was a fun Sunday.
This was my first time attending San Francisco's Carnaval and I loved it! I guess I loved it so much because I was busy dancing in the Parade. Yep, I was one of the dancers reppin' Dominican Republic. It was the 1st time DR was present in the parade and I am so proud and honored that I was able to be a part of it. We're such a small community here in the Bay Area that it was great to connect not only with my culture but so many others! I can't wait until next year!
A fun annual festival in Mission on Harrison Street with music food and vendors in tents selling T-shirts, accessories, and art. I went on Saturday, so I missed the parade, but the event was fun.
My bautizo in San Francisco. I just came one year ago from Italy and boom, cast in the middle of the parade with a friend dancing samba. YAY! This year I got promoted to "alcohol guy" (last year I was the "water guy") and you cannot even image how this little change made me meet soooo many new friends. By the way, the whole event is crazyness to the full. Oh yeah, I was drunk at 10 AM but what a lovely coincidence to have Memorial day the day after :) Get tanned and enjoy this latin renaissance every year!
As a SF native I have been coming to this event for years. Some of my favorite memories are coming down to Carnaval with my Dad and being introduced to many different latin cultures. The music, performers, food, etc are always fun and interesting to watch. However, this year the weather was cold and foggy. Despite that, I was able to have a good time. Stopped off at the liquor store and grabbed a bottle of lemonade dumped out half and filled it up with Vodka. It was the only way to go being that there was no alcohol served up this year. And since this is an enormous event, I was glad to be able to drink and walk up and down Harrison. The booths were great as there were tons of posters, flags, shirts, etc all representing the great variety of Latinos in the Bay. The crowd was good. A very eclectic group ranging from old to young and white to black. I could have done without all the corporate booths like Comcast etc but whatever. I love that there are numerous stages with lots of different performers. I saw an Aztec performance, Salsa band, and also a Samba performance. It was also kid friendly with a hoop it up type of thing going. Dunk contest, shooting contest, etc. I ran into alot of people I knew, met some breezies, and got a nice buzz going which I parlayed into the evening! As I was waiting in line for the bathroom I got into some funk with some young drunk fools, but thought better of it and let it go. As Carnaval winds down, the drunk kids get stupid so watch out. But the good thing about staying till the end is the food. All the vendors start giving away food or selling it very cheap. So drink hard, enjoy the festivities, and save your appetite for the end! I spent 12 bucks and ended up with what would have amounted to $40 a regular price !
fabulous costumes and floats from all over the latin world (and some random indian/asian entries just for fun). great food out in the streets, and the most amazing tamarind agua fresca....
so glad they decided to the unorthodox thingy in May instead of preLenten shivering timbers Feb. in San Fran...nether regions shrink in cold weather and popping goose bumps show up on maximus glorius under skimpy costumes.
