Welcome the Turtles at the Luquillo Tinglar Festival
I like turtles. I also like town fairs and promoting environmental causes. So when April comes around, we head (and encourage you to, also) to the Luquillo town plaza to celebrate the annual Festival el Tinglar (or Leatherback Turtle Festival). Since 2006, the Sierra Club (in cooperation with the town of Luquillo) has sponsored this event to help promote awareness and conservation of the wonderful natural environment in this part of Puerto Rico.
This year’s Festival el Tinglar is on Saturday, 15 April 2023, from 12n until 10pm in the Luquillo town plaza.
Why the Tinglar?
Luquillo has many miles of beautiful, undeveloped coastline that is perfect for many different sea turtle species to come to and make their nests throughout the year. But, most importantly, the endangered leatherback turtles (tinglars) make their way to the shores of the Northeast Ecological Corridor to lay their eggs, usually starting in mid-March.
Just 10 to 15 years ago, only about 90 nests were recorded on Luquillo’s beaches. But over the last few years, the numbers have increased dramatically. Now the beaches of the NorthEast Corridor, this stretch of sand is one of the most important nesting sites for the leatherback turtle in the Caribbean! And luckily, Puerto Rico has a number of these beaches where the turtles return to each year! We need to educate everyone about the importance of keeping these beaches pristine.
We are hopeful that — with continued education about preservation, maintaining clean beaches, and keeping the area in its natural, undeveloped state — Puerto Rico can continue to help the species make a comeback.
The Festival
This festival is not just a party, with food, artisans, craft shopping, and music — though it does have all that. It is really an educational event, for the whole family, in disguise.
Though mainly focused on ecological issues, there are lots other important and interesting information available. But it is not just boring reading — they have lots of tables and areas set up for kids to make arts and crafts related to the theme (such as recycling, Puerto Rican culture, or turtles) for free. Note to parents — Bring a bag because the kids will make you lots of souvenirs!
The festival starts at 10am with a parade, where children and adults dress up in ecological and nature-themed costumes, though turtles are the main feature. Though it is not a requirement, many of the costumes are made from recycled materials. It is so cute seeing the little kids dressed up for the parade, which runs along La Pared and then into the town square.
After the presentation of awards, and just a little information from the Sierra Club about their local conservation successes and the issues facing conservation, the rest of the day and evening are filled with music, food, and dance shows.
There are artisan tables set up throughout the day and evening. Here, in the craft area, you will see the turtle-theme repeated over and over. But there are crafts and art of all kinds, not just turtle-related. There are a number of artisans who work with only natural or recycled materials. Lots of neat and unusual things.
Rare, Daytime Nesting of Leatherback on Vieques
On 03 April 2012, the folks on Navío Beach in Vieques were treated to a rare sight — a female leatherback turtle came up onto the beach during the daytime to make a nest and lay her eggs. This video will give you a good idea of the size of these awesome creatures that swim in our oceans. These amazing sea turtles geneally swim north in the summer to feed (up the east coast of the States) but then return to the same general area where they were born (though not neccesarily the same beach) , year after year, to dig a nest in the sand and lay their eggs.
Thanks to the folks at Kinetic Illusions for making this video and putting it on YouTube for everyone to enjoy!
Festival Details
The festival is free to all.
The festival is usually held on the second or third Saturday in April (mid month) usually 10am or 12 n until late!
Go early, it is not crowded at that time, but as the day goes on and the music starts, it gets more crowded . Parking can get tricky.
Parking is on the street or in the empty lot near the town square (along La Pared beach). Getting to/from that lot will be difficult as the day goes on and it gets more crowded. We parked on the edge of town, a couple blocks away from the town square, and walked in. That made leaving a breeze!
Click on a placename below to view the location on Google Maps ...
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