Affordable housing grants
John Pitman Memorial Award winners
Buellton, Ventura County projects receive state funds - A2
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Our 167th Year
75¢
S AT U R DAY, AUGUS T 6 , 2 02 2
Fiesta parade returns with a flourish Thousands sit and stand on both sides of Cabrillo Boulevard to watch dancers, horses and more By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
Justin Uribe celebrated his birthday with a smile on his face and a Moscow mule cocktail in his hand. Clad in a white shirt, jeans and sunglasses, the friendly Santa Barbara resident, who turned 41, stood outside Bluewater Grill on Cabrillo Boulevard. He shouted cheerfully in Spanish to the riders on the horses in the nation’s largest equestrian parade. Wearing Old Spanish Days costumes and hats, the men on the horses smiled back. Then their horses proudly did some fancy footwork, just for Mr. Uribe. “They’re all dancing horses. So I tell the riders, ‘I want to see them dance!’ They’ll start doing a special dance,” Mr. Uribe, an equestrian himself, told the NewsPress. As the first Fiesta Historical Parade since 2019 proceeded early Friday afternoon on its new route, Cabrillo Boulevard, Mr. Uribe raised his voice to be heard over the dynamic music of mariachi horns, violins and guitars, and the loud, joyful volume of the crowd, easily numbering in the thousands. They sat and stood on both sides of Cabrillo Boulevard, on a route stretching from Castillo Street to the colorful Chromatic Gate. “Viva la Fiesta!” shouted Father Larry Gosselin on a float that was a replica of the Santa Barbara Mission. The crowd of all ages, from children on their parents’ shoulders to seniors sitting on benches, shouted, with enthusiasm to match the priest’s: “Viva la Fiesta!” Leading the parade were Los Niños de la Flores, young girls with flowers, setting the stage, so to speak, for Spirit of Fiesta Tara Mata and her court of fellow dancers. Ms. Mata, 19, a recent graduate of Santa Barbara City College, danced in the traditional Fiesta white dress and gestured with a white fan, a common part of flamenco. She proceeded with style, grace and a constant smile — the entire route of the parade. Then came more royalty: Saint
MORE INSIDE For the Fiesta schedule, see A4.
This year’s Spirit of Fiesta Tara Mata dances her way through Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara followed by her court during the Historical Parade.
Barbara — Lynn Kirst — wearing her crown, robe and gown and standing proudly outside the castle on her float. Then came the horses, of all sizes and colors, with, as Mr. Uribe noted, an uncanny talent for dancing. This was their day to show fancy footwork, and this was the day for their riders to wear traditional costumes. The men had their Old Spanish Days hats, and the women wore bright red, green, blue, you name it, dresses, some of them long enough to wrap the horses with color. In fact, some of the horses wore floral wreaths. This was a day everybody was looking their best. And some horses pulled carriages of various sizes and
colors. Riding in one of those carriages was Mayor Pro Tem Meagan Harmon, smiling widely as she sat next to someone else with a big smile — Junior Spirit Layla Gocong, 9. The Spirits and Junior Spirits from the 2020 and 2021 celebrations, which didn’t have parades, got to be in this one. And this year’s La Presidente Maria Cabrera and her husband, Francisco Cabrera (the honorary presidente), stood proudly on their float. This was the parade’s first time on Cabrillo Boulevard after nearly a century on State Street. A parade couldn’t proceed there this year because of the parklets outside restaurants, and the city
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
of Santa Barbara is continuing to work on issues such as making the parklets portable (and hence removable for parades). But the News-Press talked with a dozen or so parade goers, and they were unanimous in preferring the wider Cabrillo Boulevard and its backdrop of palm trees and the Pacific Ocean over historic State Street. “You can’t beat a parade next to the beach,” Maritza Corona, a 25year-old Santa Barbara resident and native, said. Charlotte Hamilton, 17, who works at Bluewater Grill, said Cabrillo Boulevard makes for a better environment. Please see PARADE on A3 Above, a horse dances on Cabrillo Boulevard. Below, Junior Spirit of Fiesta Layla Gocong rides in the carriage with Santa Barbara City Mayor Pro Tem Meagan Harmon.
Mariachi music is played live during the parade.
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