Annual Indian Market returns this weekend
San Juan Bautista – Sleepy San Juan streets will be crowded this weekend with vendors, dancers, artists and spectators for the 22nd annual Indian Market and Peace Pow Wow.
“This is something that really benefits the entire public,” said Laynee Reyna, the event’s founder.
The Indian market attracts artists and performers from as far as Washington, Utah and Central and South America, who travel to the mission city each year to share their cultures and traditions, Reyna said.
What separates San Juan’s market from similar festivals is its focus on world peace, said Reyna. In fact the concept behind the event is that it is a “living prayer for world peace.” The focus was inspired by Reyna’s experience as a wartime medic when she was still in her teens, and her first-hand experience with the horrors of war.
“I’ve seen what it can do to people, to human beings” she said. “And building that circle of peace is so important now because we are losing our military men every day, and that causes a lot of anxiety for everybody.”
Special performances honoring veterans and those who promote peaceful living in their own homes will be conducted, which the audience will be invited to participate in, both days the festival is running.
The Indian Market was born 22 years ago, when Reyna says she dreamed about a multi-cultural market held in the Mission San Juan Bautista.
“I told my former husband about my dream, and he paid attention to me and said ‘Well, I better take you to the Santa Fe Indian Market,’ ” she said.
While there, Reyna learned about the logistics of putting on such an event and invited artists and vendors to attend her market later in the year. When the market was held that summer in the mission’s olive grove, it was the first festival of its kind ever held in California, she said.
Today the market features activities for children and teens and attracts tourists and participants from all over the state.
“An event like this that brings people into town to promote history and teach them about different cultures, that’s where San Juan wants to take its future events,” said City Manager Jan McClintock. “I’m excited to see it this weekend.”
