Celebrating Semana Santa 2016 in San Juan del Sur

Semana Santa in San Juan del Sur equates to the biggest party of the year in Nicaragua. To avoid the crowds and craziness this week long celebration brings many resident expats and locals prefer to get out of town, while on the other hand, many of us choose to stick around.

This year, like previous years, Gordon and I decided to round up some friends and get in on the action. 

The Heineken stage has always been a favorite spot of ours so it became the meeting place for our motley crew. With upbeat music pumping, the sun shining and cold inexpensive Heineken flowing our Semana Santa expat gathering was off to a great start!

Unlike major festivals and events in Canada or the United States — where drink prices usually double or even triple — here in Nicaragua it’s the complete opposite.

Whether it’s beer, rum or Micheladas you’ll be hard pressed to pay much more than $1 USD for a drink. One place was even selling litres of Victoria Classica beer for just $1.25 USD.

Next we made our way a few steps down the street to the Claro booth. Local beer (Toña and Victoria Frost) were available for just $0.89 USD.

Needless to say more frosty cervezas were enjoyed by all!

There was no shortage of cold (and even cheaper beer) at the Victoria Frost tent, which is where we found ourselves next. Here we paid just $0.71 USD per can.

High above us nubile young women representing one of Nicaragua’s big name beers gyrated to the beat of the music.

We made our way through the crowded dance floor and out onto the beach. The cool mist that sprinkled down on us and was a welcome reprieve from the heat.

Here in the Victoria Frost tent — as with all the other venues we visited — purchasing multiple beers meant you were eligible to receive free swag. Our friend Everett scored a cap with a built in bottle opener.

It’s fair to say that by this time many of us were feeling no pain! From here we wandered up the beach through the crowds of people in search of something good to eat.

After enjoying a little snack of fried chicken we made our way back to where we started – the Heineken stage – for a couple more cold ones, further people watching and — for some of us — a bit of dancing.

Semana Santa in San Juan del Sur is definitely not for people who don’t like crowds or loud music. For me it’s best experienced a couple hours at a time.

Having started this particular party at 2:30 in the afternoon I was impressed that I lasted as long as I did; it was 8 o’clock when Gordon and I finally decided to make our way home.

There’s no denying the fact that today I’m missing the flavours of turkey, ham and mashed potatoes with gravy…not to mention those oh so sinfully sweet Cadbury Creme Eggs…and more importantly time with family…but I can say I’m grateful to have enjoyed another day of fun in the sun with good friends celebrating Semana Santa here in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

Have you experienced Semana Santa in San Juan del Sur? What did you think?