Breaking my disappointment streak was Carnaval. San Francisco's one non-tedious parade, Carnaval is generally held at the end of May (26th this year) on the theory that it will avoid the rain and cold of March. Typically, and this year was no exception, this turns out to be a little late, and the brief warm of late spring has been replaced by chill, gray San Francisco summer. I started out at 17th and Mission (where the route turns back towards South Van Ness), but later wandered down past 18th for a better view. One positive of parades in the Mission is that even when the crowd is already four or five people deep, it's never too hard to find a place with a clear view. Alas that probably won't be true in another generation...
The participating groups range from all over Latin America from Aztec-themed Mexican dancers to more standard Brazilian Samba and Capoeira schools. The costumes are uniformly dramatic, and the performers uniformly energetic, and to whatever extent tradition trumps creativity, at least it's a good show. Even the obligatory pirate-themed float was handled with the sort of panache sadly missing from Bay to Breakers.
I missed getting video of some of the better acrobatics, unfortunately, but it's just as well, as I came close to maxing out my card as it was. Always carry extras!
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