From left, Amanda Cuevas, Isabella Ricci, 2023 Spirit of Fiesta Jack Harwood, Eve Flores, and Ashlyn McCollum. | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom.

Setting the tone for what turned out to be one of Santa Barbara’s most innovative Fiesta celebrations in memory, as Camilla Barnwell wrote in last week’s cover story, “Fiesta Flips the Script on the Cusp of 100th Anniversary,” “On the cusp of Fiesta’s 100th anniversary, the most hide-bound, traditionalist organization in town has given us our first male Spirit and our first openly gay Presidente.” 

But that was just the beginning. The two parades, El Desfile Histórico and El Desfile de los Niños settled nicely into their new home along the waterfront, with revelers flocking to take in the ocean view festivities on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Also appreciative of the cool ocean breezes were patrons at the new El Mercado de la Playa, as the former Mercado del Norte moved from its longtime uptown MacKenzie Park location to the parking lot at Santa Barbara City College’s La Playa Stadium. 

From left, Junior Spirit of Fiesta Olivia Nelson, El Presidente David Bolton, Primer Caballero Gonzalo Sarmiento, and Spirt of Fiesta Jack Harwood at La Fiesta Pequeña, August 2, 2023 | Photo by Ingrid Bostrom

In case you missed out on any of the festivities, here are links to the Independent’s Old Spanish Days coverage from this past week. 

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