[Noozhawk’s note: Second in a series of Fiesta articles researched and reported by contributing writer Sienna Valentine, the inaugural Erin Graffy Journalism Fellowship recipient for student journalists. The program was established by Graffy’s family in partnership with The Profant Foundation for the Arts and Noozhawk.]

For the first time since its creation in 2004, the annual Flor y Canto event during Old Spanish Days Fiesta took place without its founder, Erin Graffy de Garcia, since her death earlier this year.

Flor y Canto, “Flower and Song,” occurred Friday at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, continuing the tradition of honoring the history and dances of early California.

Graffy’s husband, James Garcia, was part of the live music group that performed at the event. He remembers how this event has grown from less than a half-dozen people to a full ensemble and dance.

“It was Erin’s idea,” he said. “She was afraid that the songs and dances of early California were being lost to Flamenco.

“And so we came up with doing it before the courthouse show on Friday evenings. We’ve been doing it ever since.”

This year, Yvette Keller, a past student of Graffy’s, filled the role as narrator.

She recalled being asked if she could step in to fill a role left vacant after Graffy’s January death — a role they didn’t have anyone else to cover.

Keller said she felt honored to be considered.

She explained that everything else — the singers and dancers — remained the same, but what was missing was someone to guide the story, to serve as the narrator.

Keller’s favorite moment from the event was the sense of belonging she felt on the stage.

“For me, the most beautiful piece was that sense of community, that sense of welcome, that sense of invitation, that sense of openness that was literally in the script came to life on the stage,” she said.

Her biggest takeaway from her role in the event is encouraging everyone to take part in preserving and being a part of Santa Barbara history.

“It enriches our town, it enriches us as Santa Barbara, and it brings us all together in a very wonderful and unique way,” Keller said.

“And I think that’s something that Erin would have found beautiful and important.”

Something that sets Flor y Canto apart from many Fiesta festivities is the unique nature of the narration.

Rather than just talking to the audience about history, the performance includes a brief Spanish vocabulary quiz and fun historical tidbits.

One such fact was that cascarones — the ubiquitous hollowed-out eggs filled with confetti — were initially intended for young women to mark their scent on men they were interested in.

Garcia remembers the amount of research that Graffy did to learn about the Rancho era of early California. 

“She spent a lot of time originally researching the background to the dances … and a lot of the history surrounding the Rancho period,” he said.

“I think she would be pleased with what we’ve come up with. Some things have been taken away, some things have been added on, but we more or less have got a regular program going now.”

A memorable moment for Garcia was the performance to “Adios Adios Amores” put on by Graffy and performed by some of her friends at Flor y Canto in a previous year.

“She had some of her friends basically after the slow version that we normally do, she had them do an upbeat Latin beat to it with the words … that conveyed the meaning to her,” he explained.

“It was like … goodbye, my friends. I’ll see you at the next morning. That was incorporated tonight. I think she’d be very pleased with that.”

Flory y Canto now stands as a living extension of Graffy’s passion for history and love of Santa Barbara culture.

The music, dance and storytelling made everyone feel as if they could see into that love of Santa Barbara that is part of Graffy’s legacy.

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