Our Lady of Guadalupe Church continues with its Fiesta plans for the weekend
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Fiesta spirit is still alive on Santa Barbara’s Eastside. A welcome surprise for some.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on Santa Barbara’s Eastside is going ahead with its modified Fiesta plans. The smaller crowd came out on the first day but the same delicious homemade food was still being made.
Marcel Sereboff is back home from college. He and two of his friends stopped at the festival for lunch. “We were actually walking to a different taco restaurant when we heard the music," said Sereboff. "And I honestly didn’t think this was happening.”
Tina Bourguignon's mom and sister came to Santa Barbara for Fiesta weekend. “We had planned to go to De La Guerra and when it got canceled we just weren’t going to not do anything," said Bourguignon. "So everybody started to talk about Guadalupe. So this is the first time for me, even though I live here.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe Festival organizers came up with plans to follow the new mask mandates now in effect and required masks at the event except for when eating and drinking.
Workers are sanitizing tables and keeping tables and chairs and keeping food lines spaced out to encourage distancing.
Pedro Lopez is the lead pastor at Our Lady of Guadalupe. He said to-go orders are new this year for distancing. “Taking online orders for some of the food, so it’s presale. And also all of the booths can prepare your order to-go.”
The recent COVID-19 surge came late for the church. Organizers kept their three-day festival to at least recover the money spent setting it up.
“But also, hopefully, to make a profit," said Lopez. "Because our annual budget depends a great deal on the Fiesta. And last year we weren’t able to do anything.”
And those who came for the first day's lunch say, so far, they feel safe.
Becca Stelman is in Santa Barbara from Los Angeles visiting Sereboff. She said, “I’m vaccinated as well. And since there are not that many people, it doesn’t really feel that crowded but people seem to be wearing masks.”
The festival runs until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and ends Sunday evening.
