Fiestas de Santa Fe
Fiestas de Santa Fe is a festival held every autumn in Santa Fe, New Mexico, usually during the second week of September.
History
On September 16, 1712, the first Fiesta council signed a proclamation declaring there should be a celebration to commemorate the anniversary of the 1692 reconquest of New Mexico by General Don Diego de Vargas. The Spanish were earlier expelled from the city by neighboring Pueblo people during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and spent the next 12 years in exile in El Paso del Norte. The King of Spain appointed de Vargas to lead the exiled colonists in their reoccupation of Santa Fe by surrounding the city with cannons and threatening the Pueblo Indians residing inside with death. He re-entered the city on September 14, 1692; however the war for reoccupation of New Mexico raged on until 1694.Fiesta was revamped in 1912 by a group led by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce and Edgar Lee Hewett. Hewett re-envisioned the Fiesta as a celebration of the history of New Mexico from prehistoric times to the annexation by the United States and rooted in the culture of the Native Americans, Hispanos and Anglos. During the twentieth century the event became increasingly commercialized. From 1925 to 1932 the Spanish Colonial Arts Society sold santos during the Fiesta, an event that spun off as its own celebration called Spanish Market. In protest to Hewett's charging of admission to the Fiesta, a group of artists and writers decide to stage their own admission-free Fiesta called "El Pasatiempo" in 1926. "El Pasatiempo" featured a Hysterical Pageant, a parody of the Fiesta historical pageant, and the burning of Zozobra, both of which later became part of the Fiesta celebration.
No celebrations were held in 1917–18 during that reinvisioning, and during World War II in 1942–45.
The Fiesta was again revamped following criticism of its portrayal of The Entrada. In 1977 the All Indian Pueblo Council and the state's Eight Northern Pueblos staged a boycott when a former Fiesta Council president sent a letter to the Pueblos requesting they not sell their wares during Fiesta. The Fiesta Council responded to these criticisms by emphasizing peaceful co-existence of the indigenous and Hispanic communities and their shared Catholic faith. From 2015 to 2017, silent protestors raised placards citing historical facts at odds with the narrative annually given when the re-enactors reached Santa Fe's historic Plaza to portray the retaking of the city. Extensive press coverage was key to changing The Entrada aspect of the fiesta. In addition, many local screenings of the documentary film Veiled Lightning, including two screenings at Santa Fe's New Mexico History Museum. In 2018 the Entrada was dropped from Santa Fe's Fiesta celebration.
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented a public event in 2020, but they did stream some events including the burning of Zozobra. A similar streamed event occurred in 2021.
In 2016, Al Hurricane Jr. had released a song titled "La Fiesta de Santa Fe". During the first full Fiesta since the pandemic, held in 2022, the bandstand featured him, and other New Mexico music performances; by musicians including Sangre Joven, Divino, The Dwyane Ortega Band, and dances from Indigenous Pueblo Dancers, Los Matachines de Bernalillo, and Popé's Dancers.