The Aftermath of Old Spanish Days Includes Days of Cleaning
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Even though it will be days of work, Santa Barbara crews were up and out before dawn to clean up from the 2026 Old Spanish Days.
The event brought thousands of people to the city for each of the five days of festivities at multiple locations.
Confetti eggs, that were cracked over heads as part of the Fiesta fun, will leave a lasting memory. It will take precision work to get the sidewalks, drains, landscaping and doorways to businesses cleaned out.
Early Monday morning, blowers were blasting debris into piles on many of the downtown blocks.
The Santa Barbara Downtown Improvement Association use a power washer for the walkways, trash cans, signal lights and common areas to help speed up the sweeping and dumping of the leftovers.
De la Guerra Plaza, the scene of the central mercado was cleaned up Sunday. The main stage was taken down by the operator Darvik Productions. The individual booths were removed by the food vendors and the tables and chairs were folded up. The plaza was cleaned out by Sunday afternoon and returned to the city for normal operations to start the week Monday morning.
Vendors who were set up on State Street for two blocks in the expanded mercado area. That was also cleaned up Saturday night.
Other, unpermitted vendors who often set up in that area, moved to the 600 block nearby. Combined with confetti egg sellers it created a packed side-by-side row of sellers.
During the peak of the weekend during night time hours, many roaming street bands attracted hundreds of people around their performances on several blocks.
The waterfront crews were also very active cleaning Chase Palm Park and the West Beach area where the main parades took place. El Desfile Historico on Friday drew a crowd of thousands along with the Children's Parade Saturday which was separately hosted by the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department.
Many businesses are also doing internal cleaning, and the impacts were intense at restaurants and bars where lines of customers were seen all weekend.
(more details, video and photos will be added here later today.)
The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With the Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.
