Old Spanish Days Brought a Little Bit of the New to Santa Barbara in 2023
Wrapping up the Fiesta Celebration
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.
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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