San José

For San Blas there are novena prayers, Masses, bull runs, a rodeo-style horse show and dances with national bands, while the town square fills with stalls and games.

The religious patronal feast is on 19 March and, because it falls in Lent, it is mostly a liturgical celebration. The town's big popular festival is San Blas on 3 February (with activities starting on the 1st).

The fiesta patronal (patron saint's festival) is the biggest day of the year in every Paraguayan town. It honors the local patron saint or Virgin with a novena (nine days of prayer), a serenade on the eve, a main Mass and a procession with a brass band, firecrackers and flags. Then comes the secular side: a kermesse (village fair) on the plaza, karu guasu (a big communal feast), chipa (cheesy cassava bread) and sopa paraguaya (savory cornbread) at the food stalls, dancing, torín or Paraguayan-style bullfighting (the bull is never killed), jineteadas (rodeo-style bronc riding) and carreras de sortija (a horseback ring-lancing race). As a visitor, arrive early for the procession, be respectful during Mass, try the food cooked by the parish committees and ask for the program at the church: dates often shift to the nearest weekend.