Browse Items (21 total)

With large gourds resting on their heads, these women travel around the mercado with flowers, vegetables, and fruit.

A palm-reader wearing a traditional silk shawl engages audiences in Fiesta activities.

Woman in Fiesta costume standing in front of archway

Woman in embroidered shawl.

Today, tents and booths line De La Guerra Street and De La Guerra Plaza; in the 1920s and 1930s, an open air market welcomed visitors and residents alike to De La Guerra Plaza and El Paseo.

Children look out at the State Street crowds at the Carillo intersection and welcome them to the festivities. In the background, the original County National Bank, today the Montecito Bank and Trust, can be seen.

Children prepare for the parade as they play in and around one of the featured carts.

The fashions of Old Spanish and the 1920's intermingle as children prepare for the parade down State Street.

Gathered in El Paseo, Fiesta performers would dress in traditional Spanish attire that also evoked the current Hollywood interpretation of California history.

At Casa de la Guerra, two costumed dancers are surrounded by musicians

The palomino horse was coined as "the living symbol of Old Spanish Days fiesta" in an August 3, 1941 News-Press article. These fair-maned horses were garbed in silver and paraded down State Street in the earliest Fiestas, and visitors still enjoy…

El Paseo, built in the early 1920's around Casa de la Guerra, was the heart of Old Spanish Days Fiesta with a mercado, performances, and public gatherings. Here, one lovely lady performs a romantic Spanish dance surrounded by a six-piece…