Fiesta de Santa Fe: what to do and where to stand

Fiesta de Santa Fe is the oldest community celebration in the country. It has run every September since 1712, and it marks Don Diego de Vargas’s return to the city in 1692. If you live here, you know the season by sound: mariachis on the Plaza, church bells, and the crowd at Fort Marcy Park shouting “Burn him!”

If you are new to Santa Fe, or thinking about moving here, this is the week that explains the town.

When it happens

Zozobra burns on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. Fiesta proper is the following weekend, with the Novena Masses and the Fiesta Court in between, and it ends with the Sunday night candlelight procession. Check the Fiesta Council’s schedule each year, because the dates shift with the calendar.

The Burning of Zozobra

Zozobra, “Old Man Gloom,” is a 50-foot marionette built every year by the Kiwanis Club and burned at Fort Marcy Park on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, a week before the Fiesta parades. People write down their glooms, the slips go into the figure, and the whole year’s worries burn with him after dark.

Practical notes from people who go every year:

• Buy tickets ahead. The event sells out and the gates get crowded.
• Walk if you can. Fort Marcy Park is a few blocks north of the Plaza, and the streets around it close. Homes in the Historic Eastside and Downtown are within walking distance, which is part of why those neighborhoods fill up this week.
• Bring a layer. Early September evenings at 7,000 feet turn cold once the sun drops.

On the Plaza

The Plaza is the center of everything for the rest of the week.

• Fine Arts and Crafts Market. Booths fill the Plaza all weekend, with food stands around the edge. Go early for the frito pies and the shade.
• Desfile de los Niños, the Pet Parade. Saturday morning. Children, dogs, the occasional goat, all in costume, walking the Plaza loop. This is the family event of the week.
• Historical/Hysterical Parade. Sunday afternoon. Floats, politicians, marching bands, and jokes at the city’s expense.
• Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis. The religious heart of Fiesta, with the Fiesta Court and the procession of La Conquistadora.
• Candlelight procession. Sunday night, from the Cathedral up to the Cross of the Martyrs on the hill above Paseo de Peralta. The view back over the lit Plaza is the quiet end to a loud week.

Where to park, and where not to

Downtown parking is tight all week. The city garages on Sandoval Street and at the Convention Center fill early. If you are coming from Eldorado or the Northside, park once and walk the rest.

Why it matters if you are buying a home here

Fiesta is a good test of whether you want to live close in or further out. If you want to walk to the Plaza for Zozobra and the parades, look at the Eastside, Downtown, South Capitol, or Canyon Road. If you would rather watch the fireworks from your portal with the mountains behind them, look at Las Campanas or Tesuque.

Either way, we can show you homes that week. We will just be a little hoarse from Zozobra.