¡Viva la Fiesta!

This weekend brings the annual Santa Fe Fiesta, the centuries-old celebration of the return of Spanish rule to Santa Fe in 1692. It's another big Plaza event, but this one's more local and much older than the others.

Kathy hooked us up with a group that's been throwing a weekend-long party for years, a tradition that grew out of building floats for the Hysterical Parade. Now, they get a couple suites at the Eldorado Hotel with a balcony overlooking the main parade route. They've got all sorts of lumber stored at the hotel, and set up a big construct to cut the sun, set out tables and chairs, and hook up a musical stage. All weekend long, there's food and drink from caterers and volunteers, and a series of musicians.



Yesterday, Monica headed over in the afternoon to help with the setup and decoration. I joined after work in time for Frito Pie and music by Scott Damgaard. We met and visited with plenty of folks, many of them long-time Santa Feans, but a fair number of recent residents (including the inevitable fellow DC-area escapees). The night cooled, but was pleasant, and we ended by hanging out by the stage, coming up with requests, and meeting the musician, all the way in from Boston for this event (and to visit family).

Saturday morning of Fiesta is the Desfiles de los Niños — the Children's/Pet Parade. Kathy recommended that we head down early, and go to the staging area to see the craziness there.



Each entry was numbered, and there were at least 163. Each group had multiple people and one or more animals, all milling about, among several high school bands warming up. Most pets were dogs, but there was a cat or two, some rabbits, a guinea pig, a few reptiles and amphibians, and . . .



We found a spot on the curb at Sena Plaza and met up with Janie.



And the parade went by.









A cage full of chihuahuas:



Pirate beagle:











And those without a pet weren't prohibited from participating:



Back to the Eldorado for a taco lunch, and music by a terrific young mariachi group (oldest: 21, youngest: 13!). We've been home, catching up on some stuff and preparing our contribution to tonight's meal (cumin + garlic marinated carrots, to go with the meatloaf from The Pantry), and now we're back off again.