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 Monday 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.

"This year we had a ton of people out.   People were excited and happy. We had a great, successful and very safe Fiesta," said El Presidente Colin Hayward who was back in the area looking over the scene.

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.

Blowers used by the crews and private cleaning companies, were blasting debris into piles on many of the downtown blocks where they were collected and removed.

The Downtown Santa Barbara Improvement Association (DSBIA) uses 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 and loaded into trucks. 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. Some sellers who were not part of the event took over the space Sunday where crowds continued to spend time.

Those vendors who often set up in that area, moved to the 600 block nearby during the event one block away. Combined with confetti egg sellers it created a packed side-by-side row of sellers all days and into the late night hours.

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 from Castillo Street to Calle Puerto Vallarta. The area came alive the next day with the Children's Parade Saturday which was separately hosted by the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department. That had more viewing areas and filled parking lots.

The lawn at Chase Palm Park was also the spot for kids to get ice cream at the end and cool down on the grass.

Many businesses that had Fiesta crowds anywhere in the city saw impacts beyond a normal weekend. They were intense at restaurants and bars where lines of customers were seen throughout the event, often for hours longer than a normal schedule.

One business owner who served refreshing beverages, sandwiches and scoops of ice cream all weekend, said he was in the right place for the hot weather and festive crowd.

Dylan Mancuso at Cuso's Creamery said, "it attracted more people downtown, it was ridiculous. The volume of people outside in the street, it helped us, it was unbelievable."

He stayed open extra hours and "it reached a point where we had to ask people to stop coming in. Our staff is tired and needs to go home and I am tired and need to go home and get ready for the next morning!"

One unexpected surge of people came when pop up street bands came out. "There was a banda right there. They blasted to our doors and its ok. I just turned my music off and enjoyed theirs!"

Looking ahead, "I would love to be back on the north side because it was such a great place.  It was such a great place to have fiesta and get that part of the community involved, and it was disappointing that we lost that," said Hayward.

Old Spanish Days looks to have many people with ideas and energy going forward. Hayward said, "look at how many new kids you see every year, plus the dancers from all the studios each year, they're just blossoming."

With the newer mercado area filled with street vendors, some of the business owners in the area said they were shielded from the public and saw a drop in customer foot traffic and sales.

There was also a review from many owners that suggests the city should have activities of different types more often because of the positive turnout from locals and visitors along with the economic benefits that have been sought in recent years.

Along with the official Old Spanish Days venues, the city also saw increased foot traffic and business in areas such as the Santa Barbara Eastside where the annual festival took place at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. It featured traditional food and live music along with numerous dance groups.

At The Club on Canon Perdido Street a multi-day carnival took place along with a Saturday morning pancake breakfast.

The American Legion supported Fiesta activities with another pancake breakfast and musical groups at the Veterans Memorial building on both Saturday and Sunday. The funds raised will go to students studying politics and field trips to the state capital in Sacramento.

A beach cleanup took place Sunday by the non profit group Tidy Seas where the focus was on items like trash and micro plastics that could get into the ocean.

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