SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Thousands Expected to Greet Swallows
If it’s St. Joseph’s Day, it must also be the day the swallows are scheduled to return to Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Thousands of tourists from around the world are expected to arrive in the city today to watch the swallows as they make their annual return from their winter home in Argentina. Sometime in the early morning, between 7 and 9 a.m., town patriarch Paul Arbiso will ring the 214-year-old mission’s bells, officially heralding the small birds’ arrival.
Mariachis and performances by students of Mission School will take place all day on the mission grounds. Rafael Rene, son of composer Leon Rene, will sing his father’s song, “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano,” at approximately.
The return of the swallows also marks the opening of the city’s weeklong Fiesta de las Golondrinas, which culminates in the Swallows Day Parade through the streets of downtown San Juan Capistrano on Saturday and a rodeo Saturday and Sunday.
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