Las Marias Orange Festival 2011 El Mundo

The fresh sweet smell of oranges (chinas).. No kidding.

Las Marías is way up in the mountains, due east of Mayaguez, not too far from Maricao on the west end of the island. We took the same route via Sabana Grande, we used to check out the Coffee Festival in Maricao.

Las Marías was founded in 1871 and as of 2009, had a population of about 12,400. That’s twice the size of Maricao.

In addition to oranges, their other principle crops are bananas and coffee. The farms between Maricao and Las Marías were covered in these three crops with some Gandules (pigeon peas) tucked between the coffee and oranges. Ripe dropped oranges were in the shoulder of the road. Some coffee still had berries on them.

Though the rich soil and damp weather make farming very popular, the rolling hills make it difficult to mechanize the process.

I have been very fortunate with the weather, the last half dozen posts. Unfortunately, my luck did not hold out. It was clear in Ponce, but became overcast by the time we headed up past Sabana Grande, into the mountains. About half way to Maricao, it turned to mist. It never really rained, though it felt like we were driving through the clouds along the ridge-line. And pretty windy too. The fog broke some as we rolled through Maricao. The mist was intermittent from there on into Las Marías. Unbrellas were the rule of the day.

I did shoot a ‘From the Road’ video from Sabana Grande, all the way into Las Marías, via Maricao. It has a some water drops on the lens so I’m still debating whether I’ll finish it for YouTube.

The Main Event..

We got to Las Marías around Noon. Parking was about a block off from the Plaza and cost $4. Not as bad as the Coffee Festival I guess.

It was still misting as we joined the crush of foot traffic, headed for the Plaza.

The side streets off the Plaza had all been barricaded for pedestrians and vendors booths. In fact, there was 4 to 5 times as many Artesanos and food vendors as was in Ponce, 2 weeks ago. The shear number of vendors was on a par with the Artesano Fair in Barranquitas. There were vendor booths set up directly in front of the Cathedral making it hard to get a good shot of it.

On the opposite side of the Plaza was a stage with live music.

The locals were set up with folding chairs and umbrellas. The weather was not going to stop them from having a good time.

It felt like half the population of Las Marías had turned out for this.

The 1st band up was ‘Grupo Esencia’ with a contemporary Latin rhythm. They sounded great. One couple had launched into dance. Though I’ve said it many times before, it was a very festive atmosphere. People were having a great time.  By 1PM, the Plaza was packed as were all the side streets.

Oranges, Oranges and More Oranges..

5 dollar ‘onion’ bags of oranges were being sold by many of the vendors. It made me wonder what kind of deal they got on the bags. You could also get oranges prepared in a variety of ways- peeled, juiced or blended into an array of drinks, with and without Rum.

Any kind of traditional Puerto Rican food could be had..

There were several vendors just selling Pinchos, alone. We stopped and ate a couple of Pasteles for lunch. These delicacies are similar to tamales, a dough made of starchy roots or plantains with a little bit of cooked meat filling wrapped in a banana leaf, tied with string, then steamed or boiled. They have a very mild flavor, but very good. the locals will squirt a little catsup on them, but I prefer hot sauce.

Pasteles are a treat you should not pass on if you get the opportunity.

There was also one food vendor serving freshly made ‘Arepa’, corn cakes with ‘queso’ cheese in them. They looked delicious, but I never made it back by there to try them. Maybe next time.

As mentioned earlier, Artesanos were out in full force. I saw some things I had not seen before. The custom made handbags and 3 Kings Art were very nicely done. In Puerto Rico, Three Kings Day is celebrated with just as much enthusiasm as Christmas so it’s a very popular motif.

The Agriculture Extension Service of the University of PR in conjunction with the 4H Club, had a very nice display of citrus along with several other local fruits and nuts. They were handing out a flier featuring recipes made with- You guessed it, ORANGES! They also told us of a farm that sold many different varieties of citrus, out near Cabo Rojo. Something I will look into at a later time.

As the afternoon progressed, the weather improved and some blue sky started to show. It was warm, but nice.

Another custom in Puerto Rico that’s hard to avoid is the folks selling State Lottery Tickets. They are everywhere you go, any store, all Post Offices, government offices, all bars and restaurants and any special events. Basically anywhere more than 5 people gather, someone is trying to sell you a lottery ticket. Lottery tickets are very popular here, much like in the US. This is a State sanctioned thing, but there is illegal betting going on too. If the person taking your money is writing it down on a slip of paper, versus a printed coupon with a number on it, it ain’t kosher. Similar to the illegal football betting that goes on in the US.

Most of the illegal activity is conducted in local bars so you will most likely never see it.

I’m not a betting person.. I never let go of my money until I have to.

Though the weather was way better, we had a long drive home to deal with so we headed out about 3PM. I’m sure the rest of the day was very nice. I truly enjoyed the Orange Festival of Las Marías. It is a very nice town.

One last note- Gasoline has really jumped up in the last few weeks, just like in the rest of the US. It’s important to note that prices here are per Liter, not per gallon so it’s not near as cheap as it looks at first glance.

In the end, it really was about the oranges.. ARRG!!