The Santa Fe Fiesta Council is a volunteer organization created by the Official Fiesta Proclamation on September 16, 1712. The ayuntamiento (town council) of 1712 decreed an annual commemoration of the reconquest of Santa Fe. There has been some form of celebration since. The modern fiesta as it is now presented dates from 1919. Today the Santa Fe Fiesta Council is comprised of 100 regular members and 20 representatiives of civic organizations and businesses. This group of people has a common interest to promote, manage and perpetuate the annual Fiesta de Santa Fe for the benefit of the City of Santa Fe, its citizens and their descendants. The Fiesta Council enlists the cooperation of residents, the Catholic Church, the local business community, and both City and County of Santa Fe officials.
The Fiesta celebrates the reconquest of the area by Don Diego de Vargas in 1692 and 1693. It is essentially Spanish in concept but now includes Indian and Anglo-American cultures as well. Its celebration includes Spanish and Mexican music, Spanish and Indian dancing, pageants, church services, processions, parades, and the burning of Zozobra (Old Man Gloom).
From the guide to the Santa Fe Fiesta Council Collection, 1919-2003, (The Palace of the Governors, Fray Angelico Chavez History Library.)
