Old Spanish Days Is Focusing on Downtown for 100th Anniversary of Fiesta

Organization Promises the 100th Year Will Be Full of Surprises

El Mercado De la Guerra is going to be bigger and better this year and will extend into State Street, said Old Spanish Days directors on Wednesday. | Credit: Fritz Olenberger / Old Spanish Days

Fiesta’s 100th-year celebration will be “full of surprises,” according to Old Spanish Days’ enthusiastic board of directors, who held a press conference on Wednesday morning. Despite losing the historic carnival due to costs, there will still be plenty of opportunities to party.

Mercado De la Guerra will be expanded this year, partially to make up for the carnival’s loss. According to El Presidente Brian Schwabecher, the venue has already sold out.

“We really want to focus our energies on this downtown corridor in our 100th anniversary, highlighting the mercado and our local shops and nonprofits, ” Schwabecher said. “We’re going to focus on getting as many people downtown as we can.”

El Presidente Brian Schwabecher was joined by other Old Spanish Days directors on Wednesday to reveal what to look forward to during this year’s Fiesta. | Credit: Callie Fausey

Celebrations will start all the way up at the Public Market on Victoria Street, with a stage and festivities, to evening dance performances during Las Noches de Ronda at the Courthouse, and down State Street to De la Guerra and beyond.

The famous mercado will extend out from De la Guerra Plaza, into State Street, creating a new link between the plaza and the downtown corridor that has not happened in years. There will be more vendors, dancing, and music with a stage at the corner of De la Guerra and State to bring the mercado some extra vitality. Decorations have already started to pop up around the city.

“We can use our Fiesta — this multi-day event — to show our city leaders what’s possible as we move into the next 100 years of this festival, but also of this very important downtown corridor as we make some big changes and big decisions moving ahead,” Schwabecher said.“We can show what can be accomplished when State Street is closed as we work in unison to promote local businesses.”

To kick everything off, there will be two or three “special surprises” at La Fiesta Pequeña at the Mission, including musical artists from Mexico and Spain, as well as local studios, said Rhonda Henderson, Chair of Fiesta Pequeña and a past Presidente.

“When Georgey Taupin, our spirit, comes out the door in that white dress, that’s always the moment that everybody waits for,” she said. “It’s going to be a beautiful, beautiful show.”
Additionally, the all-female, Grammy Award–winning band Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea will be making a comeback for the 100th celebration. The last time they performed was in 2017.

El Presidente Brian Schwabecher poses with this year’s Los Niños de las Flores, the young, flowery ambassadors of Fiesta. | Credit: Fritz Olenberger / Old Spanish Days

“During my Presidente, I brought the Mariachi Divas up,” said Henderson. “I don’t believe they’ve been back in Santa Barbara since then. They’re celebrating their 25th year, and they’ll be opening up Pequeña. It’s going to be amazing.”

As of Wednesday’s press conference, there were nearly 60 entries in the lineup for Friday’s 90-minute Historical Parade, or El Desfile Histórico, including the return of marching bands, which have not participated in the parade since pre-pandemic.

The 2024 Junior Spirit of Fiesta Alleenah Soriano and Spirit of Fiesta Georgey Taupin. | Credit: Fritz Olenberger / Old Spanish Days

This year’s three bands — one Santa Barbara High School alumni group, one group from Oxnard, and a mariachi band — will bring their lively sounds down the parade route on Cabrillo Boulevard, alongside new floats adorned with flowers from Carpinteria, fabulously dressed Mexican horsemen, and other performers.

As announced on Monday, long-time local radio personality Catherine Remak and 1976 El Presidente Rudy Castillo will each serve as a Parade Grand Marshal during the 100th Anniversary Fiesta.

Past Spirits of Fiesta and other past Presidentes will also be involved in the parade for the 100th year, in addition to even more surprises, according to Tony Miller, Division Chief of Pageantry.

“We are coordinating with the city much more closely this year than we have in the past with the parade,” Schwabecher told the Independent. This year, the city withheld some of the usual funding for Old Spanish Days to hire a parade consultant and provide additional security.

While the carnival will not be held this year, Schwabecher assured that there will still be plenty of kid-friendly venues, including El Desfile de los Niños (Children’s Parade) and multiple other celebrations with dancing, music, and food throughout the five-day festival.

“So many memories have been made at all of our venues with our youth going back generations upon generations,” Scwabecher said. “I have a feeling that just with the spirit, the cascarones, the color, the energy, everyone will be smiling and in a great mood. I mean, even just the feeling in the grocery stores is different during Fiesta. We’re just coming together and uniting as a community.”

The City of Santa Barbara, in coordination with Old Spanish Days, will be sharing details on logistics and road closures in coming days.