We just realized we will be in San Juan on Mardi Gras. Does the town celebrate this or another version of Carnival??

I think 'beads' are just a new orleans thing and would like to know if Puerto Ricans have their own custom??

You won't find anything like Mardi Gras in San Juan. The big San Juan festival is the Saint Sebastian street fest in Old San Juan, which is mid-to-late January. Some towns do have festivals during the week leading up to Fat Tuesday. The best and most famous is the carnival in Ponce. There are activities all week leading up to Fat Tuesday, culminating in the Fat Tuesday "vejigante" parade. Vejigantes are the colorful, masked costumes that you may have seen in some PR tourism ads. This is very different from the New Orleans Mardi Gras festivities. Ponce carnival stresses local music and crafts, like the handmade vejigante masks. You'd have to rent a car and drive 45-60 mins. to get from San Juan to Ponce to enjoy carnival.

There's some info on Ponce carnival and pictures of vejigantes here: http://americanhistory.si.edu/vidal/carnival.htm

Thanks PR!!