Swallows Day Parade in San Juan Capistrano, CA
The Old Mission is in the background Every year, the Swallows Day Parade celebrates the return of the migratory swallows to San Juan Capistrano. The "Fiesta de los Golondrinos" began in the 1930's. The swallows have been migrating down to Central and South America for the winter and returning to Southern California, for who knows how long? Although the swallows can be seen in the spring throughout the area, there is a special association with the city. The story is that the swallows' mud nests were being knocked down, near the Mission. The friar asked that the homes of the tiny birds be spared and the birds began nesting under the eaves of the Mission San Juan Capistrano. The parade is very fun and features many, many horses. There are horses pulling wagons, a multitude of equestrian groups in fancy dress, mounted vaqueros (traditional Mexican cowboys), military on horseback,
