As Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days organization readies for its 101st Fiesta, El Presidente Fritz Olenberger announced a slightly altered parade route today. In what could be the largest parade ever, said Olenberger, the Friday Historical Parade will stretch from Pershing Park to Calle Cesar Chavez along Cabrillo Boulevard, but stop short of the Hilton hotel. This year’s parade will feature 58 entries, 27 carriages, and at least 100 riders on horseback, who will return to the park via Yanonali and Garden streets after the parade has passed.
“I’m really looking forward to the parade this year in particular,” Olenberger shared, “because after 12 or 15 years of photographing it, [my wife] Gretchen and I are going to be in it, and our kids and grandkids are going to be in a wagon.” He emphasized the festival’s profound local significance, stating, “Fiesta is a part of the DNA and fabric of Santa Barbara.”
Along with a shorter parade route, other changes took place recently in the Fiesta lineup. The Downtown Club, formerly the Eastside Boys & Girls Club, had announced a Carnival for the Children in June, but after the ICE raids over the weekend, it was cancelled on July 14. “Due to uncertainties in the community, and to assure the safety of the kids, The Downtown Club is cancelling its planned Fiesta Carnival de Los Ninos,” wrote Mark Alvarado, executive director of the club, in a press release. The carnival was intended to be a major fundraiser for the club, but recent events now make it a “financial risk,” he wrote, that “could affect our ability to provide the needed services we offer our kids on a daily basis.”…