Old Spanish Days Fiesta focusing efforts on Downtown Corridor for 100th anniversary this summer

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Old Spanish Days (OSD) Fiesta is now focusing its efforts on downtown State Street's corridor for its 100th anniversary this summer.

Officials from OSD will replace the previous venue of the Beach Mercado this year with the Plaza De La Guerra in downtown Santa Barbara with local businesses being a primary focus for the festival.

The beach Mercado, or El Mercado de la Playa was previously held at Santa Barbara City College's La Playa Stadium and replaced Mercado del Norte at Mackenzie Park, according to OSD officials.

This year's El Presidente Brian Schwabecher offered a statement on the upcoming changes:

“Downtown and our local businesses have been at the heart of Fiesta for 100 years. We decided to focus our efforts this year on downtown businesses and the greater State Street area. These are important times for our city as we await visions and drawings this week with so much effort being spent to revitalize downtown--we want to help where we can as everyone celebrates this 100th anniversary of Fiesta.”

OSD 2024 El Presidente, Brian Schwabecher

For more information on this year's OSD festivities, visit the OSD website.