Fiesta marketplace sets up in Casa de La Guerra
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Without the Old Spanish Days Mercado in downtown Santa Barbara, the Mujeres Makers Market will be taking place Friday and Saturday in the Casa de La Guerra.
The location is on De la Guerra Street across from the plaza and the Santa Barbara City Hall.
Women vendors specializing in handmade products, candles, soaps, clothing and vintage products will be on site.
About 40 booths have been set up.
The market has been taking place monthly in a parking lot on Milpas Street and it will return there, but for this month they are using the Casa de La Guerra location.
There will also be food for sale and a DJ with music.
Daniela Aguirre, a Mujeres Makers market coordinator, said, "We started on Milpas because that's where our roots are. That's where most of us grew up. Milpas is our downtown and to bring that to heart of downtown I think it is really special for all of us."
A partner in the project, Elysia Guillen, said, "We had huge support from the community, everyone came out and after that it just became consistently busy."
Aguirre said, "We are really excited to give all these vendors an opportunity to showcase their talents and all their work. Most of these businesses came about during the pandemic, a lot of these people had these as passion projects. We just wanted to create a space created by women of color, for women of color, especially here in Santa Barbara. It is not something you see very often."
The event is being coordinated through the Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Casa de la Guerra has rich history at this site and it was open for the first Fiesta in 1924. The area around the casa then became a downtown market place.
The Trust has also opened up the museum. It has been closed since March of 2020.
Tim Aceves with the Trust for Historic Preservation said, "It's always been in the center of town it has always been the center of activity and it is right there and it is coming back for Fiesta. To reopen for the four days of Fiesta and also correspond with the Mujeras Market it seemed like a perfect idea and a great way to celebrate the Fiesta spirit."
It will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
