Unused Fiesta Flowers Placed At Santa Barbara Cemetery

Unused flowers from Old Spanish Days are not going to waste.

Director Alex Castellanos started a Fiesta tradition of his own after he was put charge of disposing of the flowers that didn’t make it on the parade floats.

“I wanted to thank my grandparents. That’s really how it started. They are the ones who got me involved with Fiesta,” Castellanos said.

Last year, Castellanos took the leftover flowers to Calvary Cemetery in Santa Barbara to lay them on his grandparent’s graves.

“Once we got there, we ran into a lot of people. They started seeing how many flowers we had. So, we thought it would be nice to share it with the entire community,” Castellanos said.

On Saturday, the couple carted a truckload of unused flowers to the cemetery to honor those who are laid to rest there once again.

“To me it’s really about the Fiesta spirit. It’s not just you. It’s not just your neighbor. It’s those that came before you and it was really important to show that,” said Castellanos.

Castellanos said the kind deed is made possible by all the growers in Carpinteria who donated many of the flowers.