Caitlin Doyle, 6, gets a high five from Heidi Lucero after wining a game at the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People take a photo at Mission San Juan Capistrano during the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kids from Mission Basilica School perform at Mission San Juan Capistrano during the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People take photos during performances at Mission San Juan Capistrano at the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People visit The Great Stone Church at Mission San Juan Capistrano during the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Renee Bondi performs “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano” at Mission San Juan Capistrano during the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mariachi Tapatio performs at the bell wall during the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Fish swim in the fountain at Mission San Juan Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lori Gutierrez rings the school bell at Mission San Juan Capistrano during the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The king and queen of the royal court perform a dance at Mission San Juan Capistrano during the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Bell ringers Michael Gastelum, closest, and Nathan K. Banda sound the bells at Mission San Juan Capistrano during the annual St. Joseph’s Day and Return of the Swallows celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The swallows’ return to Mission San Juan Capistrano is hit or miss, but the people have no difficulty finding their way back.
Mission visitors celebrated the return of the swallows, as well as St. Joseph’s Day, on Wednesday, March 19, with mariachi music, indigenous demonstrations and performances and the ringing of the historic mission bells. The two annual celebrations are always popular events.
“There’s a unifying factor coming to a place like this,” said Mechelle Lawrence Adams, executive director of Mission San Juan Capistrano. “It’s something special, it’s something behind these walls that you just can’t easily get somewhere else.”
The swallows return to the region around this time of year after migrating 6,000 miles from Argentina.
They’ve been spotted in the city, closer to the San Juan Creek, Adams said, adding the mission has brought in an expert to try to lure the birds back to the grounds.
The celebration of the birds’ migration continues on Saturday with the community’s Swallows Day Parade in downtown San Juan Capistrano; it gets started at 11 a.m. and there is also a day-long fair. Information: swallowsdayparade.org
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