400th Anniversary Commemoration
by Gregory Pleshaw
In 1610, Don Pedro de Peralta founded the city of Santa Fe under the direction of the Viceroy of Spain. We honor Peralta today with “the Paseo de Peralta,” a street which loops around the downtown district of the city of Santa Fe, as well as with a statue which lives next to the city’s main Post Office on the corner of Grant and Paseo de Peralta, but the entire city is soon to honor the founding of the city of Santa Fe with a year-long party that won’t soon be forgotten.
Today, Santa Fe 400th Anniversary Executive Director Libby Dover sits at her desk in the offices inside the Santa Fe Arcade on the Plaza downtown. Her hands are resting in her lap, clutching a sheaf of papers that contain all the plans – and some of them are still a secret – about the upcoming events.
All told, the commemoration is intended to last for 16 months, from the kick-off events of Viva Santa Fe during this year’s Labor Day weekend all the way through to the “Legacy Ball” closing Gala event on New Year’s Eve 2010. In between will be featured a number of exciting events and activities, including “This is Santa Fe,” a national webcast about Santa Fe to fifth-graders across the country; monthly lectures about Santa Fe arts beginning in September of 2009 through November of 2010; an outdoor cinema series in the summer of 2010; and “the Sounds of Santa Fe: A Musical Journey,” a collaboration between the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra and the Opera which will be presented and performed in September of 2010.
Though all of that may seem far away to you and I, to Dover it is closer than you think and soon to come alive for the entire community to enjoy. But it all begins with the kick-off party, Viva! Santa Fe, which will take place during Labor Day Weekend and feature a number of free and ticketed events on Fort Marcy Park’s Mager’s Field, (the site of Zozobra, for those of you locals who may be confused by the location.) At the time of this writing, the details on the particulars of who will be coming to perform and how much tickets will be are still up in the air, but Dover believes that there will be some hot surprises that will delight audiences of all ages.
“We are in the process of contacting a number of local, regional and national acts to participate in the celebration,” said Dover. “It would, however, be premature to throw out any names until we have some confirmation.”
In addition to commemorating the city’s 400th Anniversary, the events planned also have another agenda, and that is to help promote the city of Santa Fe as an historic – and affordable – destination city in these times of economic uncertainty.
“People aren’t heading to Europe as much as they might during a different economic climate,” said Dover. “Part of our mission is to make sure that we’re also running an effective tourism campaign to remind people about Santa Fe’s multi-cultural roots and to encourage them to come here for a visit.”
In order for that to happen, a lot of funding has to come together from a variety of sources, including local, state, and corporate financing. Maurice Bonal serves as chairman of the city committee for the 400th Commemoration and also serves as the President of the 501c3 that is producing the event(s). A lobbyist for over thirty-five years, Bonal is quick to point out that the current Legislative session is one of the toughest he’s seen in years in terms of available finances, but he is confident that the organization will acquire the necessary funding from this coalition of sources, including Governor Richardson, who is a strong supporter of the commemoration.
“This is a very important event for the city of Santa Fe,” said Bonal. “Not only in terms of commemorating the birth of the city but also as an opportunity to kick-start the local economy.”
Bonal has been in constant touch with the cities of Jamestown, Virginia and Quebec in Canada, both of whom recently commemorated their own 400th Annivesaries. According to Bonal, these events had a return on investment of between 10 to 1 and 13 to 1.
“This is an event that is important for the business community, as well as the city at large in terms of commemorating our local diversity as a multi-cultural place to live and visit,” he said.
