GOLETA, Calif. — Old Spanish Days kicked off its first of many events of the season with Fiesta Ranchera, an annual celebration blending local culture, cuisine, and community spirit.
About 450 people gathered at the historic Stow House grounds for an evening filled with music, dancing, and flavors from across the Central Coast. Attendees sampled appetizers, wine, and beer from local restaurants, wineries, and breweries, all while enjoying high-energy performances by the 2025 Spirit of Fiesta, Natalia Trevino, and Junior Spirit, Victoria Placencia, who dazzled the crowd in colorful attire.
“The event was started for the 1997 Old Spanish Days Presidente Tim Taylor to bring Fiesta to Goleta. It was about 185 years ago, when California was under Spanish rule. There was a period of hospitality, dance, music,” said this year’s El Presidente, Fritz Olenberger. “Those folks knew how to put on a party.”
Olenberger also introduced Julie Romero Hathaway of Carpinteria, who was selected by the Native Daughters of the Golden West Reina Del Mar Parlor 126 as this year’s Saint Barbara.
Old Spanish Days officially kicks off on the steps of the Old Mission Santa Barbara with La Fiesta Pequeña. KEYT will broadcast the colorful, historical program, which includes traditional songs and dance, beginning at 8 p.m. The event is free to the public. The next morning at 10 a.m., the community is invited to celebrate a Catholic Mass at the Mission for La Misa del Presidente.
On Friday, KEYT will broadcast El Desfile Histórico starting at noon. Horses and floats depicting the history of Santa Barbara will travel down Cabrillo Boulevard from Castillo Street to Calle Puerto Vallarta.
For the first time in 67 years, Old Spanish Days will not host its Rodeo and Stock Horse Show at Earl Warren Showgrounds. Instead, the rodeo will take place at the Santa Ynez Valley Equestrian Center during Fiesta weekend, August 1–3, with all rodeo performances free to the public. A ticketed barbecue and dance is scheduled for Saturday night.
That same weekend, the Earl Warren Showgrounds will host its own Fiesta event, Santa Barbara Rodeo Days, featuring three PRCA-sanctioned performances, including bull riding, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, tie-down roping, and mutton busting for kids. A Fiesta-themed carnival with free admission will include rides, food vendors, live entertainment, and a mercado.
Also new this year, a carnival will take place on the field at the Downtown Club on Canon Perdido Street. This site was formerly part of the collective Boys & Girls Club in the county and is now rebranding. The club has been part of the community since 1938.
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Fiesta Ranchera Brings Spirit of Old Spanish Days to Goleta News Channel 3-12.
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