Volunteering for Fiesta

Parade Marshals

Old Spanish Days seeks volunteers to assist with El Desfile Histórico on Friday of Fiesta. Adults 20 years of age and older are invited to serve as parade marshals along the parade route help with the parade line-up.

For more information or to sign up, please phone Old Spanish Days at (805) 962-8101 or e-mail

Bienvenidos

Old Spanish Days invites adults 18-80 years of age to volunteer as Bienvenidos Ambassadors for Fiesta.

The Bienvenidos provide information to residents and visitors while preserving the personal hospitality for which Fiesta is known to travelers throughout the world.

Your participation with the Bienvenidos program is very important to Old Spanish Days. Serving as an official ambassador, you become the source of assistance and information for our dignitaries, our community and our visitors. Activities in which to participate include: seating dignitaries at Fiesta Pequeña, assisting at the Dignitarios party at the Santa Barbara Zoo, serving as parade marshals, providing information at the mercados and carnival and selling badges and posters at events.

The Bienvenidos program provides an excellent opportunity to become involved with Fiesta. The level of commitment is very flexible and geared toward each participant's ability to participate in the various events.

For more information or to sign up, please phone Old Spanish Days at (805)962-8101 or e-mail . The Bienvenidos program is limited to 30 people.

Flower Girls and Las Señoritas

Old Spanish Days invites girls 7-14 years of age to apply to participate as Flower Girls.

In 1949 the first group of flower girls was organized to escort the Spirit of Fiesta in the historic parade. They led the parade and wore brightly colored skirts and had beautifully decorated baskets full of flowers to distribute to spectators along the parade route, thus establishing a tradition that endures to this day.

The month prior to opening ceremonies of Fiesta, the girls have orientation, meetings and rehearsals to attend. The Saturday before Fiesta they attend a reception in their honor, where they are introduced to El Presidente or La Presidente who presents them with the official Flower Girls badge. The Flower Girls, in turn, presents El Presidente or La Presidente with the first flower (traditionally a rose) of Fiesta. The ceremony initiates them as the junior Fiesta hostesses for the City of Santa Barbara. The Flower Girls participate in Fiesta Pequeña , the Fiesta Parade and Children's Parade and the Dignitarios party at the zoo. Flower Girls also bring the spirit and beauty of Fiesta to those in hospitals and retirement homes.

In 2002 Old Spanish Days Chartered Las Señoritas, a group of girls 15 to 17 years of age, to assist at official Fiesta events, meet and greet some of the daily trains during Fiesta, sell pins and posters, and help with the Children's activities at the Fiesta Finale on Sunday, August 4, 2002. Las Señoritas was established at the request of many Flower Girls who aged out of the Flower Girls, and wanted to continue participating in some way during Fiesta.

Applications available from the Old Spanish Days Office (805) 962-8101.

The first 100 applicants will be accepted