SanSe 2020: The 50th Edition & San Juan’s 500th Year

New here? This is the 2020 recap. For the full history, traditions, and what SanSe is about, see our complete guide: SanSe: The Complete Guide to the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián.

SanSe 2020 ran Wednesday, January 15 through Sunday, January 19, 2020, and it was a double milestone: the festival’s 50th edition, and the opening act for San Juan’s 500th anniversary year. The flyer said it plainly: los 500 años de San Juan comienzan con los 50 de las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián.

It nearly did not happen. Days before the festival, a sequence of earthquakes struck southwestern Puerto Rico, and the celebration was briefly called off before being reinstated.

The 2020 festival at a glance

• What: Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián 2020, the 50th edition
• When: January 15 to 19, 2020
• Milestone: 50 years of SanSe, opening San Juan’s 500th anniversary
• Where: Old San Juan, across four plazas plus the Teatro Tapia and the Mini Fiestas at Parque de las Palomas
• Admission: Free

The stages of 2020

Plaza 5to Centenario

Wednesday, January 15

• 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM · Conjunto Bomba y Plena Inter
• 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM · Juri, Lisceño
• 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM · Limi-T 21

Thursday, January 16

• 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM · Comparsa San Juan
• 6:30 PM to 7:15 PM · Grupo Gracimá
• 7:45 PM to 8:45 PM · Yolandita
• 9:15 PM to 10:30 PM · Millie Quezada

Friday, January 17

• 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM · Clases Salsa Flor Botta
• 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM · Pirulo y la Tribu
• 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM · Ilé
• 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM · Olga Tañón
• 9:30 PM to 11:00 PM · Ednita

Saturday, January 18

• 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM · Clases Salsa Flor Botta
• 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM · Plena Libre
• 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM · Danny Manuel
• 6:00 PM to 8:15 PM · Luceíta Benítez
• 9:45 PM to 11:00 PM · Kany García

Sunday, January 19

• 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM · Clases Salsa Flor Botta
• 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM · Iris Chacón
• 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM · Olga Tañón
• 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM · Johnny Ventura
• 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM · Gente de Zona
• 9:30 PM · Gran Combo

Plaza de Armas

Wednesday, January 15

• 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM · DJ Jordan con Publixa
• 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM · DJ Mayor Jordan con Boohype, junto a DJ Scarface
• 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM · Ergueby Docko

Thursday, January 16

• 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM · DJ Jordan con Publixa
• 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM · Kristian Bob
• 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM · King Arthur

Friday, January 17

• 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM · DJ Metro
• 6:45 PM to 8:45 PM · DJ Match James, Xtassy
• 9:00 PM to 9:45 PM · Alcanina
• 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM · Los Rivera Destino

Saturday, January 18

• 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM · Montalvo Uranso
• 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM · DJ Match, Trivinva
• 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM · DJ Vellord
• 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM · DJ Raquin Opio
• 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM · Banda Algarete
• 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM · Pj San Suela

Sunday, January 19

• 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM · DJ Gulembo
• 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM · Mahya y su Trauma
• 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM · Emil Cedeño
• 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM · Gomba Jahbari

Plaza La Barandilla

Wednesday, January 15

• 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM · Pleneros del Más Allá, Inter
• 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM · Coro de Niños de San Juan
• 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM · Plenativa

Thursday, January 16

• 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM · Misa E’ Gallo
• 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM · Viento de Agua
• 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM · Natalia Lugo

Friday, January 17

• 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM · Marbleyoa
• 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM · Mento de Agua
• 9:30 PM to 10:00 PM · Daniel Díaz y Tripanderos
• 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM · Oscarito

Saturday, January 18

• 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM · Grupo Buya
• 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM · Parranderos de Loíza
• 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM · DJ Gulembo
• 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM · Lissette
• 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM · Tuna Los Segreles
• 9:30 PM to 10:30 PM · Alberta Rodríguez

Sunday, January 19

• 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM · Fernando Ferrer
• 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM · Tambores Calientes
• 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM · Choco Orta
• 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM · Glenn Monroig
• 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM · Victoria Sanabria

Plaza Colón

Wednesday, January 15

• 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM · Pleneros del Más Allá, Inter
• 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM · Plenativa
• 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM · Orquesta La Oferta

Thursday, January 16

• 6:30 PM to 7:15 PM · Atabal
• 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM · Grupo Mambo
• 9:30 PM to 10:30 PM · Puerto Rican Power

Friday, January 17

• 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM · Orquesta Güiros
• 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM · Boricubasón
• 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM · Tributo al Buena Vista Social Club
• 9:30 PM to 10:30 PM · Tributo Juan Luis Guerra
• 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM · Grupo Karis

Saturday, January 18

• 9:00 AM to 9:00 AM · Clases de Zumba
• 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM · Herminio de Jesús
• 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM · Hermanos Sanz
• 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM · Tributo Chelí Feliciano y Héctor Lavoe
• 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM · Melina León
• 9:30 PM to 11:00 PM · Sonora Ponceña

Sunday, January 19

• 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM · Atención Atención
• 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM · Salsa Metro, Inter
• 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM · D’ Latinos
• 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM · Innovación Boricua, Trovadores
• 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM · Rey Brown
• 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM · Vico C

Mini Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián, Parque de las Palomas

Sunday, January 19

• 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM · Presentación teatral, pinta caritas (9:00 AM to 12:00 PM)
• 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM · Los Guanantes de la Plena
• 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM · Show de los Mocosos
• 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM · Mini comparsa de los niños

Teatro Tapia

Sunday, January 19

• 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM · Cordelia González y Antonio Cabán Vale, “En voz de mujer,” junto a El Topo
• Ismael Miranda and Chucho Avellanet also appear on the Teatro Tapia block

The earthquake that nearly cancelled the 50th

The 50th edition arrived at a hard moment. Beginning in late December 2019 and continuing through January 2020, a swarm of earthquakes struck southwestern Puerto Rico, the strongest a magnitude 6.4 on January 7 that killed at least one person and displaced thousands. With the island reeling, the festival was briefly called off, then reinstated.

Holding it anyway was not a small decision, and it fits the pattern the anchor guide describes: SanSe has repeatedly become an act of collective resilience, after hurricanes, after earthquakes, after the pandemic. The 50th went ahead, and San Juan’s 500th year opened on schedule.

What the 2020 program tells you about SanSe

The 50th confirms the count. The flyer says 50, and 1970 plus 50 is 2020. That matches the 2014 flyer’s 44th anniversary exactly. The Alegría revival date is solid.

Salsa classes as programming. Clases de Salsa with Flor Botta opened the 5to Centenario stage on three separate days, and Plaza Colón ran Zumba on Saturday morning. The festival has been quietly building a participatory daytime layer.

The closers were enormous. Gran Combo and Gente de Zona on Sunday night at 5to Centenario, Sonora Ponceña at Colón, Vico C closing Colón on Sunday. For a 50th, they booked accordingly.

Five days again. Like 2019, the 2020 edition ran Wednesday to Sunday.

A note on this transcription. Our copy of the 2020 program is a low-resolution scan, and several act names sit at the edge of legibility. We have transcribed them as carefully as we can. If you spot an error, tell us in the comments and we will fix it.

Our video from SanSe

Where it all happens

Planning a visit

SanSe returns every January on the third weekend. For the full history, traditions, the stage-by-stage breakdown, and current transit details, see our complete guide to SanSe. See also our recaps of 2014, 2015, 2019, 2024, 2025, and 2026.

Coming to San Juan? Pair it with our Puerto Rico travel guide and our guide to Puerto Rican street food.

Follow along

• Facebook: Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián

Were you at the 50th? Tell us in the comments what it felt like to celebrate that year. We read every one.

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This post covers the 2020 edition, which has concluded. Details reflect the program as published by the organizers at the time. The 2021 and 2022 editions were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 2021 held virtually. For the full story of the festival, see our complete guide to SanSe.