Fiesta Flags Created Locally Fly Throughout Santa Barbara

Stitch by stitch the Flag Factory has been creating Fiesta color for nearly four decades. Those flags, banners, festoons and other decorations are being created inside a Carpinteria warehouse.”It’s magic, light and color and that’s what we want to see for Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days,” said Jonathan Alburger inside the Flag Factory.This year, El Presidente Ricardo Castellanos said he wanted to see more decorations in downtown than there had been in recent years and more local homes hanging banners and flags. The Flag Factory says it’s been making extra quantities of everything from simple table decoration flags, to the large bunting that hangs from second story balconies.Alburger said, “back in the ’70’s it was always decorated. Every business.”He says the Flag Factory has been creating the flags and festoons for 37 years. Along with silk screening the key Fiesta image, artists go back and add bright colors such as pink, red, and purple with a special long lasting paint, to each banner.The company also sews gold trim around some and adds a custom look if the customer asks for it.KEY News Senior Reporter John Palminteri has been to the factory and has our story.