Jamaicas & church events
A jamaica is a parish fundraiser with food booths, música, games and raffles, and it is one of the most reliable weekend events in the Valley. They keep their name in English on Qué Hay, because calling a jamaica a 'church fundraiser' loses what it actually is.
A jamaica is a parish fundraiser held on church grounds: food booths run by parish groups, games for the children, a raffle, and a band in the evening. Anyone can walk in — you do not need to be Catholic, a parishioner, or invited. It is one of the most reliable weekend events in the Valley and one of the least findable, because it is announced with a poster on the church fence, an announcement at Mass, and an insert in the Sunday bulletin.
A kermés is essentially the same event, more often school-run and slightly more formal; we list them together. A plate sale is different: one dish, usually a Sunday morning, usually barbacoa, menudo or brisket, usually for pickup, usually gone by eleven.
The season starts in September, peaks in October, and runs through November, because many parishes hold theirs near their patron saint's day. December is a different shape — posadas from the 16th to the 24th, and the Guadalupe celebrations on the 12th, with the Basilica in San Juan at the center of them.
Entry is nearly always free and you pay at each booth, often by buying a strip of tickets at the entrance first. Bring cash in small bills. Buy the raffle tickets — the rifa is where the money actually comes from. And do not haggle: you haggle at a pulga, never at a jamaica, because the price is the donation.
At a glance
| What it is | A parish fundraiser with food booths, games, a raffle and a band, on church grounds, open to anyone |
|---|---|
| Peaks | September–November, October heaviest · posadas and Guadalupe in December · Holy Week |
| Typical cost | Free to walk in; pay per item, often through a ticket booth; cash |
| Strongest cities | Every city in all four counties — this is the most evenly distributed category in the Valley |
| Bring | Cash in small bills · a folding chair for the band · sun protection in September |
By city
Jamaicas & church events across the Valley
Pick a city to see what Qué Hay will cover there.
Other categories
We never invent an event to make a category look busy. If a category is thin, it is thin — and we would rather show you that honestly than waste your Saturday.