Fiesta de Santa Fe (redirected from Fiestas de Santa Fe)

Santa Fe, Fiesta de

September, weekend after Labor Day

The Fiesta de Santa Fe is a religious and secular festival said (without much argument) to be the oldest such event in the country. It dates to 1712 and recalls the early history of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The Spanish conquistadores were ousted from Santa Fe in 1680 in a revolt by the Pueblo Indians. Led by Don Diego de Vargas, the Spanish peacefully regained control in 1693. Vargas had promised to honor La Conquistadora, the small statue of the Virgin Mary that is now enshrined in St. Francis Cathedral, if she granted them success. The first procession was held in 1712 to fulfill that promise.
The festivities start the Thursday night after Labor Day with the burning of Zozobra, or Old Man Gloom, a 50-foot-high fabric and wood effigy whose yearly immolation began in 1926. Thousands watch and shout "Burn him!" when the effigy groans and asks for mercy. Fireworks announce the end of Gloom. The next morning there is a mass. Then comes the grand procession: Vargas and the fiesta queen, la reina, lead the way on horseback to the town plaza, escorted by the Caballeros de Vargas, Vargas's guards or manservants, who are also on horseback.
Afterwards, spectators make their way to the plaza for the start of three days of dancing, street fairs, a grand ball, and a parade with floats satirizing local politicians. The fiesta ends Sunday night with a mass of thanksgiving and a candlelight procession to the Cross of Martyrs overlooking Santa Fe.

CONTACTS:
Santa Fe Fiesta Council Inc.
P.O. Box 4516
Santa Fe, NM 87502
505-988-7575
www.santafefiesta.org

SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 624