Mission Due to Get New Coat of Mud

Mission San Juan Capistrano’s third annual Mud Slinging Festival will be Saturday.

To help preserve the historic mission’s adobe buildings, residents join city and mission officials in rolling up their sleeves and applying the layers of mud and straw that make up the 200-year-old structures.

Mud slinging dates back to the establishment of the mission by Spanish padre Junipero Serra in 1776. In what developed into an annual rite, each spring after the rains the Juaneno Indians who built the mission would apply a mud seal to the dried adobe bricks to help preserve and protect them. The custom continues today, said Jerry Miller, mission administrator.

Saturday’s event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the mission, 31522 Camino Capistrano. It will continue April 19 at the same time.

Information: (714) 248-2048.