Rather confusingly, the main fiesta in San José (the capital of Breña Baja) isn’t St Joseph’s Day, it’s the feast of Santiago and Santana (St James and St Anne) on the 25th and 26th of July, respectively. Since we’ve just had the bajada, the fiesta is a much quieter affair than usual. They just did the religious part: a special mass, a procession, and a loa.
So what’s a loa, when it’s at home?
It’s a hymn of praise, usually to a saint. The one in San José is quite short, but beautiful. They built a special stage outside the town hall and hired a professional team for lighting and sound.
I was told that the loa would take place at about 9:45 pm, but the procession was delayed.
And at 10 pm the sprinklers in front of the town hall came on, irrigating the power supply for the sound and light, which started to smoke. Of course the sound-and-lighting guys dashed over and dragged their equipment clear (making a few not-terribly-religious comments under their breath as they did so.) For a while, they were very busy with towels and hair-dryers, and amazingly, they had it all working again five minutes before the procession arrived.
And the concert was lovely.
