Fiesta del Valle de Española

The Friday of the 2026 Fiesta del Valle de Española, July 10, began in church. Vespers was set for 4:30 in the afternoon at Sacred Heart Church in Española. When the service ended, the 2026 Royal Court processed from the church to the Plaza de Española for the opening ceremonies. The council’s invitation for the day said “Everyone is welcome” and gave the fiesta’s motto: Fe • Cultura • Tradición.

The fiesta falls on the second weekend of July in the Española Plaza Park, at 706 Bond Street. The 2026 opening ceremony ran from 6 to 6:45 p.m. The band Northern Revolution played from 7 to 8:30, and the Jeremy Sanchez Band played after them until 10. The Santa Fe Fiesta’s partner listing describes the full weekend:

Grandstand music by Northern New Mexico artists Carnival rides for the children Food and gifts “for the familia” The Gran Baile, billed as the largest annual dance in the Española Valley * A grand parade to close the festivities

The council’s own page lists Hispanic culture, live music, local food and a carnival, and counts “428 years since 1598.”

Pets on the Plaza, Saturday morning

Saturday opened at 9:45 a.m. with the Pet Parade on the Plaza. From 11 to 2, the Española Valley Chamber of Commerce held its Youth Market. The 2026 Pet Parade’s sponsors included a veterinary hospital, a pet transport service and Española Fire/Rescue. Their money paid for two donations afterward. Pet Parade Committee Chair Bethany Brately and Fiesta Vice President Adam L. Enciñas presented checks of $600 each to Española Humane and to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society.

Volunteers run the fiesta through the Fiesta Council, and Tito Terrazas Jr. served as president for 2025–2026. When the weekend ended, the council thanked the “thousands of people” who had come. It also thanked the volunteers who “worked countless hours behind the scenes.” The Royal Court kept parading after the fiesta was over:

First place in the Historically Taos parade the following weekend Third place in the Chama parade in August * First place in the EXPO NM State Fair Parade on September 12

Oñate’s arrival and the first fiesta

The Santa Fe Fiesta listing gives the full name as La Fiesta del Valle de Española por Don Juan de Oñate. The fiesta commemorates the Spanish conquistador’s arrival in July 1598 in what is now the Española Valley. The first one was held in 1933. The historian Amado Guzman, quoted by Source New Mexico in 2022, noted that it did not become an annual event until 1969. By The New Mexican’s account, 1969 was also the first year Fiesta queens wore the silver-and-turquoise crown.

Cities of Gold, 2008

In July 2008, Maria Lopez Garcia, who had taken over the council the previous October, told The New Mexican that the fiesta had maybe not lived up to expectations in recent years. She said it had even been marred by controversy. Her council added the Cities of Gold Event Tent, which held:

A dinosaur talk by a Ghost Ranch paleontologist Storytelling and a magic show A youth poetry slam A pie-eating contest * A talk on valley history by the historian Hilario Romero

“We wanted things that are just fun and different,” she said. Tobias Rene, Bryan Olivas and Cuarenta y Cinco played sets during the weekend. The Grand Baile moved to the Ohkay Casino Convention Center, with music by Los Blue Ventures, for $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Every other event was free.

The parade took a new route that year. It started at Paseo de Oñate and Hunter Street, went north on Paseo de Oñate, turned onto Fairview Lane, and ran south on Railroad Avenue to Northern New Mexico College. The fiesta cost about $50,000. The money came from fundraising, donations and Española’s lodgers tax.

A crown taken from a dresser

State Representative Debbie Rodella of Española wore the queen’s crown during her year as La Reina. In June 2015, burglars broke through the back door of the house the reigning queen, Angelina Vigil, 24, shared with her mother. They opened every cabinet and left with the crown and its silver scepter, along with televisions, a Blu-ray player and an Xbox. A necklace and matching earrings lying under the crown on her dresser stayed where they were. “I can’t figure out why those weren’t stolen,” Vigil said.

The crown had been restored the year before, and its turquoise replaced. Bernadette Jaramillo was in her first year as Fiesta Council president. “The crown is very spiritual,” she said. “It is blessed every year by the father at one of the churches. We just want the crown and scepter returned, even if they drop it off at the entrance of City Hall.”

The council started a #FindtheCrown campaign on Twitter. Dominic Gonzales, Santa Fe’s 2015 Don Diego de Vargas, posted a prayer to St. Anthony, patron of things lost or stolen. Police said they were looking for two men and a woman in a blue 1977 or ‘78 Chevy truck missing its tailgate.

In her anger, Vigil wrote on Facebook that she hated “coming to this effn town.” She took the post down after she was rebuked and said she had meant what goes on there, not the people. One critic, Marie Martinez, said Vigil should not represent Española. The paper later reported that a tie vote of the council had left her reign in limbo.

Jaramillo said Vigil would wear a smaller tiara until a new crown, at about $2,000, could be made. She also spoke about the fiesta itself: “The tradition is dying. We’re trying to keep it alive.” Only one other woman had signed up to run for queen that year, and she dropped out before the contest. “I’m not going to give up,” Vigil said. “I’m going to find that crown.”

Oñate replies to accusations

In 2017, activists and community members objected to fiesta events they said glorified Oñate’s expedition to Tewa lands and the Spanish conquest. In 2019, after pressure from Native and non-Native activists, the city of Española removed the portrayal of Oñate from the 50th annual event. Speakers at that year’s fiesta still denied Spanish atrocities against Pueblo people.

One of those speakers, Al Borrego, denied Oñate’s 1599 massacre at Acoma Pueblo. John Ramon Vigil, then a city councilor and later mayor, distanced the festivities from him. After that, management of the fiesta passed from the city government to a private company. Luis Peña, who had petitioned to remove the Oñate statue at Alcalde, said the move insulated the fiesta from calls for change.

Oñate returned for the 51st event, in 2022. On the Saturday, at the Bond House Museum in downtown Española, Ray Griego, who had been chosen to portray him, took part in a 15-minute re-enactment titled “Juan de Oñate Replies to Accusations.” Roberto Valdez, chairman of the Fiesta Corporation’s speaker’s committee, joined him. Speaking in costume, Valdez said Oñate had been “absolved” of 18 of the 30 criminal charges against him and that the rest were “difficult to prove.”

Source New Mexico described the re-enactment as an attempt to downplay Oñate’s crimes. It reported that the Spanish government exiled him in 1614 after finding him guilty of cruelty and excessive force, and that his siege of Acoma killed about 800 people.

“We can’t negate such basic historical facts,” said Matthew Martinez, a former lieutenant governor of Ohkay Owingeh. He noted that no Pueblo historians were among the speakers: “You’re having this conversation right in the center of Tewa homeland without anybody from those communities at the table.” Robert Torrez, a former state historian, was one of the speakers. He said opinions should rest on “at least what the available sources are.” Guzman called Oñate’s return “a step backwards” and placed the 1933 founding in the Jim Crow era. Peña said, “We can do better.”

The 2026 Royal Court included a Don Juan de Oñate, Joshua Paul Montoya y Pacheco, and a Reina, Monroe Martinez y Salazar. The council’s message at the close of the fiesta thanked them both. It ended: “¡Y Que Viva Oñate!”