Watch yourselves if you are out and about on the streets of San Juan Capistrano today! Today is Hoosegow Day, one of the wildest and most unique annual traditions in Southern California. On this day, March 22, 2013 between 9 AM and 3 PM, the Fiesta Association’s honorary sheriff and deputies will be patrolling the streets of San Juan dressed in their historic attire in search of city slickers to apprehend. Prisoners are asked to purchase a Fiesta Association souvenir to earn their freedom.
According to the Fiesta Association:
Hoosegow Day is a San Juan tradition! Bringing a taste of the Wild, Wild, West back to San Juan Capistrano. The ‘Sheriff’ and the ‘Deputies’ of the Fiesta Association are dressed in their traditional black and white western garb while they roam the town in search of city slickers. If you’re not wearing western wear, watch out! You might just be roped into the fun! The Deputies will ‘arrest’ anyone not dressed in western attire (and some who are, but just look like they need time in the Hoosegow), or any man who is clean-shaven.
However, the rules often change to suit the sheriff and his over-zealous deputies, who are out to fill the jail. There’s plenty of wild western `whooping and hollering’ going on as our gunslingers fill the streets, shooting in celebration. (Don’t worry; our ‘gunslingers’ are all friendly, OC Sheriff approved, and only shooting blanks). The penalty for noncompliance is being thrown into the Hoosegow. Jail sentences are short for those who can make ‘bail’ by purchasing a Fiesta Association souvenir. ‘Bail’ money is used to help defray the costs of the parade.
The name “Hoosegow” or “Hoos’gow” is a derivative of the spanish word “juzgado” which means a court or tribunal, or even jail — perhaps a reference to an Old West posse dispensing justice on the streets, not dissimilar in sound and appearance to their modern day fictional counterparts. There has been some debate this year over the appropriateness of firing blanks during Hoosegow, but regardless, it will be a wild and fun day on the streets of San Juan.
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