Santa Barbarans will spend the next five days celebrating the city's Spanish heritage, as the 90th annual Fiesta got underway on Wednesday morning.
Spanish, Mexican, and American food, entertainment, and shopping will be available at the El Mercados set up now through Sunday in the downtown.
Another highlight is the annual Fiesta Historical Parade which kicks off Friday at noon and should run a couple of hours, according to organizers.
Will Powers is in charge of the parade's horses, which are a big part of the event.
"We have 12 Charros groups, where the horses dance and they go up State Street, we're going to have just about 40 horse-drawn wagons in the parade, and then a handful of Spanish riding groups, so the majority of what you'll see is going to be horse-related," said Powers. "I think we're one of the largest equestrian parades in the United States, if not on the Western Side."
This is Powers' first year overseeing the equestrian events, but he has some family history to fall back on. Powers' grandfather Wayne held the position for three decades.