Watch More Adventure Travel Videos
We search for a taste of armadillo this weekend in this travel video from 2 Backpackers, Jason and Aracely Castellani, while visiting Juayúa, El Salvador. In travel video episode #12, we join our friends from Norway, to experience the Juayúa weekend food festival. Enjoy the show!
We had just recently finished our 7 Waterfalls Tour in Juayúa and couldn’t believe there was even more to enjoy in this small town surrounded by coffee plantations.
Juayúa, El Salvador
Juayúa was clearly our favorite town in El Salvador. It was small and surrounded by jungle, but it had personality. Maybe that’s because crowds spilled out of the bars during the World Cup Soccer matches, or the live bands entertaining us at night or probably just the awesome weekend food festival. Yea, I think that sealed the deal for us.
Chorizo and Longaniza
Chorizo and longaniza dominate the outdoor grills, and their taste earns them top billing at the festival. The flavors explode as the soft sausage crumbles in your mouth. As expected in El Salvador, tortillas come with your meals.
Juayúa Food Festival courtesy of Pedro & Marita
Rumor had spread that it was possible to eat armadillo at the festival. We searched long and hard to find the rare meat. I was up for the taste test, but Aracely wasn’t having any. Watch the video to see the outcome.
Beer Gardens & Marching Bands
Beer gardens were loud and full of party goers, while the streets surrounding the plaza where pounding with drums as local school bands marched in competition. The food, bands and drunkenness on the streets was enough to keep you entertained the entire weekend.
Juayúa Food Festival courtesy of Pedro & Marita
Marching Bands in Juayúa, El Salvador
Looks like fun… great food!
Awesome food. I was in heaven. Not great for the vegetarian though
You guys sure pack a lot into one post. Awesome!
I’m completely envious of the food festival in the video. I stumbled into the Hiroshima Food Festival near Hiroshima Castle a few years ago… but not in Japan.
Can’t wait for the next post.
We do put a lot in here, but that’s also because we struggle with the videos spreading well on the Internet. When we throw in text and photos, they always seem to do better. Next video stop is… Alegria, El Salvador. Another small village surprise for us in El Salvador.
Bit of a carnivore’s paradise that. El Salvador looks very interesting.
Yes, I think you have to like sausage and other meets to enjoy the food there. Otherwise, it’s all rice and beans, which was also good.
It was a shame we weren’t there at the weekend!!! Every single local we spoke to told us how much fun this food fair is. It’s amazing that this small, sleepy town can transform into this nationally known food fest so often! We miss pupusas!
It was shocking to us. The scope of the festival was incredible. It’s amazing to think that they do this every weekend. Yea, pupusas are awesome!
What a great video. At 1:39, you say there were tons of saaasage? Or were you referring to sausage?
Cheers
Must be the Philly accent.
wow…. Thats nice that you went to my beautifull country, even know is very small but the people are nice and food and fruits are delicious. In my country “El Salvador” we are very tradicional, every month we celebrate something. And its nice cuz u get to meet new people. Thank u for making this beautifull video of my country love it. Bye
Nancy,
Glad you enjoyed the video. We have several more videos coming from El Salvador.
Hello Jason, great video, what month is the food festival in Juayua, El Salvador?
Fatima, the “Feria Gastronomica” the translation of which means “food festival” happens every weekend, but some weekends are bigger than others, such as the celebration of the Black Christ. This small town is an incredible place to visit and tour the surrounding coffee region. I would recommend visiting during the dry season.
well done! What do you guys shoot on? Have you run into any problems filming people? I sometimes get a little hesitant filming or photographing locals. Do you just ask permission or do you just go for it and hope it works! ha
cheers