The Las Posadas procession will begin at 4:45 p.m. followed by a piñata, bonfire, and complimentary hot cocoa and s'mores Old Town San Diego State Historic Park will be decked out in historic holiday finery this year and will be the scene of an expanded Las Posadas celebration this year on Saturday, December 9. Now in its 67th year in Old Town, the annual Las Posadas procession is a walking reenac
tment of what is traditionally a 9-day event in Mexico depicting the biblical story of Mary and Joseph’s search for a birthplace for Jesus. Everyone is invited to join the candlelight procession, starting at 4:45 p.m., and sing traditional holiday songs in both Spanish and English as the players go from inn to inn, symbolically asking for lodging. The procession will include local actors playing the parts of Joseph and the innkeepers. Dubbed Las Posadas: An Old Town Celebration, the 2017 event will mark the first year of an expanded celebration in the park with a day full of activities, crafts, choir and stage performances, and more in addition to the procession. The park will be decorated to represent the historical setting of Pueblo de San Diego. Choirs will select and perform music that might have been heard during this period. Christmas trees will be decorated with pinecones and bows, with shop windows lighted by candles as carolers stroll through the park. Traditional historic kids’ crafts such as corn grinding, Ojo de Dios (stick weaving), whirligig making, and advent paper-chain garland construction will be situated in the plaza along with other entertainment and activities. There will be a traditional applesauce demonstration, blacksmithing, wool spinning, candle-dipping, a Jewish exhibit and more. Street performers and carolers will roam the park throughout the day leading up to the 4:45 p.m. gathering for the Las Posadas candlelit procession which will begin at 5:00 p.m. and culminate in front of Casa de Estudillo with a live nativity scene and musical performance. Following the procession there will be a piñata for kids at the Wells Fargo History Museum and a bonfire with complimentary hot chocolate and s'mores and caroling. The bonfire will be held every Saturday in December. The events are sponsored by Fiesta de Reyes and The Old Town State Park Merchants Association. There is free parking available in the Caltrans parking lot on Taylor Street in Old Town after 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends.
