Wattah Wattah – A San Juan Festival

Who wants to get their camera wet? Certainly not me, but my wife gave me a plastic rain cover for my camera as a gift a few months ago and I simply folded it and stuck it in my camera bag, thinking I’ll surely use it when the rain comes. Then this picture…

I woke up late on the morning of June 24 and saw a photo message from John Ong with the message that said: “Go Derrick, this is how my windshield looks! Then I realized “Oh it’s today!”, I always wanted to shoot this festival but I always had wedding shoots whenever this happens. Today however is a free day,
how could I resist?

Going there meant I had to park somewhere far and walk the few blocks to where the action is, and the first thing I had to do was… of course, get wet! And what a liberating experience it is because it makes me less of a target and be part of the crowd. Putting that out of my mind allows me to concentrate on shooting.

I felt bad for those who are ill prepared for the day, but at the same time I am impressed with those who had prepared well. So always remember to be ready when you pass by N. Domingo and it’s surrounding streets on June 24, don’t ride the jeep, don’t walk the streets, and lock your doors, yes they will check if your car doors are locked! You’ve been warned.

Finding the main celebration isn’t that hard, just ask around or basically follow where most people are walking to. True enough, I got to the plaza of the city hall of San Juan filled with people dancing and cheering while being sprayed with water by a firetruck. It wasn’t hard to find, the music can be heard from blocks away.

So why the watery celebration? Wattah Wattah Festival is also known as the feast of St. John the Baptist who is the person in the bible who baptised Jesus in the river Jordan. Water then has also been linked to life and rejuvenation, others find it more spiritual and signifies strengthening of one’s faith.

Here is an excerpt from the bible found in the book of Matthew:

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.At that moment heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (3:13-17)

It was an exhilarating experience to say the least, things happen so fast and the emotions you just can’t fake. Although I’d worry about my camera every once in a while, I’d say this is one festival I’d come back to.

The trek back to where I parked was less exciting, I could feel my adrenaline fade away and now I feel the heat of the mid day sun as I walk with drenched clothes. The people in the cars probably looked at me and thought: “What a poor guy, got wet on San Juan Day”… yeah, poor me…