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Lobero Staff in Parade

Lobero Theatre board and staff ride in the 2012 Fiesta Parade

It all began in 1924…

Tracing the history of the Lobero Theatre’s reopening and Old Spanish Days Fiesta

The grand opening of Santa Barbaraʼs rebuilt Lobero Theatre took place on August 4, 1924, with the play Beggar on Horseback. Nine days later, on August 13, 1924 another horse-related event took place just around the corner on State Street, soon to be known as the first official Fiesta parade. Given that these two celebrations occurred so close together, was there a connection?

Lobero Theatre Board member George Burtness worked with prominent local historians to find the answers. Read the full story here, excerpted from BACKSTAGE at the Lobero.

Keep an eye out for the team in tomorrow’s parade as well —

Fiesta is a holiday that began as a small-town family party to mark the resurrection of a cherished institution­–a theatre.” – Otis Wickenhauser, Captured Dream, A History of the Lobero Theatre