Fiestas de Santa Fe

Fiestas de Santa Fe is a festival held every autumn in Santa Fe, New Mexico, usually during the second week of September.

History

Fiestas de Santa Fe has been held annually since 1712 to celebrate the "peaceful retaking" of the city in 1692 by Spanish colonists led by General Don Diego de Vargas (1643-1704). The Spanish were earlier expelled from the city by neighboring Pueblo people during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and spent the next 12 years in exile in El Paso del Norte (now Ciudad Juárez, Mexico). The King of Spain appointed de Vargas to lead the exiled colonists in their reoccupation of Santa Fe, which he accomplished without bloodshed on September 14, 1692. Eight years after de Vargas' death, a proclamation was signed to establish an annual commemoration of the resettlement. [http://www.santafefiesta.org/History%20of%20Fiesta.htm]

Festival Highlights

The start of Fiestas is marked by the burning of Zozobra, also known as "Old Man Gloom", a 50ft/15.2m tall marionette that symbolizes the hardships and despair of the past year. This is followed by 3 days of celebration that includes a reenactment of Don Diego de Vargas' return to the city, a children's pet parade, the Historical/Hysterical Parade, the Fiesta Ball and Roman Catholic masses of thanksgiving. During the festival, the Santa Fe Plaza is filled with arts & crafts and food booths, and mariachis play throughout the city. Fiestas concludes with mass at St. Francis Cathedral followed by a candlelight procession to the Cross of the Martyrs.

Former Dons

Capt. Emory Moore- 1921Co. Jose D. Sena- 1929Marcelino Apodaca- 1933Herman Baca- 1938J. Alfonson Armijo- 1941John G. Valdez, Jr.- 1943Robert Valdez- 1944Meliton Sandoval- 1948Bennie Salazar- 1949Pete Gabaldon- 1950Sen. Joseph M. Montoya- 1951Benny Padilla- 1952Frank Gomez- 1953Benny Chavez- 1954Edward Moya, Jr.- 1955Alex Padilla- 1956A.B. Martinez, Jr.- 1957Edmundo Delgado- 1958Fred Garcia- 1959Fernando Delgado- 1960George Gonzales- 1961Jose Gonzales- 1962E.J. Martinez, Jr.- 1963Larry Moya- 1964Isidro Gonzales- 1965Arturo Jaramillo- 1966Phillip Trujillo- 1967Rudy Fernandez- 1968David Segura- 1969Gilbert Martinez- 1970Carlos Gallegos- 1971Santiago Romero- 1977Orlando Gallegos- 1978Christopher Martinez- 1979David Rodriguez- 1980Joe Ruiz- 1981David Pike- 1982Antonio Ortega- 1983Art Gurule- 1984Oliver Holmes- 1985Jose Morfin- 1986Fernando Rivera- 1987James Rivera- 1988Javier Gonzales- 1989Marcos Tapia- 1990Geraldo Gonzales- 1991Peter De Vargas- 1992Robert Lujan- 1993Ronald S. Trujillo- 1994Jeremy Rodriguez- 1995Sevastian Gurule- 1996Kevin Miller- 1997Tommy Trujillo- 1998Carlos Fiero- 1999Carmichael Dominguez- 2000Paul Tapia- 2001Jody Ortiz- 2002Ruben Aragon- 2003Jose Marguez- 2004Ernesto Santistevan- 2005Jaime Dean- 2006David Trujillo- 2007

Former Reinas

External links

* [http://www.santafefiesta.org/ Santa Fe Fiesta Council] - Official Santa Fe Fiesta Site