Entertainers come from far and wide to participate in Fiesta. Here, dancers Carmela and Gabriel Cansino delight the audience at El Paseo Restaurant, circa 1940.
Entertainers come from far and wide to participate in Fiesta. Here, dancers Carmela and Gabriel Cansino delight the audience at El Paseo Restaurant, circa 1940. Credit: Santa Barbara Historical Museum Collection photo

[Noozhawk’s note: First in a daily series leading up to Old Spanish Days Fiesta.]

History is a big part of Old Spanish Days Fiesta. Our beloved community celebration honors tradition, culture and heritage.

It is an event unique to Santa Barbara, and this year we all come together for the centennial, the 100th Anniversary of Old Spanish Days Fiesta.

During these final days leading up to the start of Old Spanish Days 2024, we share with you images and photographs that have captured the spirit of our Fiesta. 

Fiesta 2024 runs July 31-Aug. 4. A special exhibition on the history of Old Spanish Days, Project Fiesta!, opens July 12 at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, 136 E. De la Guerra St.

Click here for a calendar of Fiesta events.

Viva el Centenario!

David Bolton is in his 12th year as executive director of the California Missions Foundation, which was founded in 1998 to preserve the California missions, presidios and related historic sites and history. He has spent more than 30 years studying the missions, its peoples and culture, and is a past board member of the United States-Spain Council in Washington. In 2019, he was knighted by Spain’s King Felipe VI as a Commander of the Royal Order of Isabel la Católica. He was Santa Barbara’s 2023 Old Spanish Days El Presidente, and currently serves as Fiesta’s official historian as the organization celebrates its centennial in 2024. The opinions expressed are his own.