With the return of a full-blown Santa Barbara Old Spanish Days Fiesta in 2022 also comes a full-scale “Project Fiesta!”, the annual Santa Barbara Historical Museum exhibition that celebrates the traditions of this beloved citywide celebration. Due to pandemic restrictions, the Museum presented limited Fiesta exhibits during the past three years, including one held entirely outdoors. This year’s “Project Fiesta!” is back inside the Museum and features displays of beautifully restored costumes, shawls, posters, artwork, artifacts, historical photos, and some surprises.

For more about the exhibit, which is on view through September 11, 2022, visit www.sbhistorical.org. For information about Old Spanish Days Fiesta visit www.sbfiesta.org.

“We want to go all-out for a major Fiesta exhibition for its hundredth anniversary in two years,” says Harwood. “Our collection is vast, but there are some gaps, so we are asking the public for their help. For example, we want to exhibit the colorful posters from every year that they were made, and more film and home movies from past Fiesta events would be terrific as well.”

The Museum’s collection of Fiesta posters includes those from 55 of Fiesta’s 93-year history, including the very first poster from 1924. Thirty-eight posters are still to be acquired. Those interested in helping complete the collection should contact the Museum’s library at archivist@sbhistorical.org.

The pieces on view in this exhibition are drawn from the Museum’s varied collection of items related to Fiesta. The entire collection includes 40 pieces of fine art, thousands of photographs, hundreds of oral histories, official badges from every Fiesta, hundreds of souvenir pins, trophies, plates, and dolls – plus the head of a steer which drew a cart in the first parade, stuffed and mounted by artist Ed Borein.

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is located in downtown Santa Barbara at 136 East De la Guerra Street. Admission is free. Hours are currently Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. and Thursdays from noon to 7 p.m. Visit www.sbhistorical.org.