Four Luminaries of Fiesta 2025
El Presidente, Saint Barbara, Senior and Junior Spirits
Story & photos by Elaine Sanders
July 31, 2025
Read more about Fiesta 2025 here.
El Presidente:
Fritz Olenberger
For years, Fritz Olenberger could be seen running around Fiesta, taking photos that captured the excitement of the celebration. This year, Olenberger is running the whole show as El Presidente. “I just love talking to people about Fiesta and seeing their excitement,” he said. “It is a great opportunity to bring the community together.”
As El Presidente, it was Olenberger’s responsibility to design this year’s Fiesta poster and pin. Traditionally, that also has been a way to reflect something about El Presidente and his thoughts about Fiesta. What would that be this year? For Olenberger, the answer was simple: his photography.
With more than 32,000 photos from Fiestas over the years, Olenberger had a vast catalog to choose from. With the help of the artist Derek Harrison, Olenberger’s photo of a flamenco dancer was transformed into a painting, then into this year’s poster. The pin was based on a photo of a folklórico dancer Olenberger took from the roof of the Old Mission. It was designed into the 2025 Fiesta pin by a group of four graphic artists, including Santa Barbara’s Larry Vigon, who designed iconic album covers for Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Chicago, and many more.
The parade, however, is what this year’s El Presidente is most excited about; after years of photographing the event, Olenberger and his wife, Gretchen, will be comfortably riding in the presidential carriage. They will be joined by his sister and her husband, who are making the trip from Lincoln, Nebraska, for the festivities. Following behind them in a circus wagon will be 11 of Olenberger’s kids and grandchildren, all dressed in Fiesta attire. Olenberger says he has “24 feet of hangers with clothes on them,” for him and his family.
Spirit of Fiesta:
Natalia Treviño
Santa Barbara native Natalia Treviño has been dancing since she was 2 years old. Watching the dancers during Fiesta, she dreamed that one day she might become the Spirit of Fiesta herself. “It’s my greatest passion,” said Treviño.
At age 16, Treviño achieved that honor after years of working with her teacher Jesalyn Contreras of Contreras Flamenco Arts. The rising junior at Bishop Garcia Diego High School is looking forward to dancing at the many Fiesta events, meeting the community, and having a blast.
“And, of course, dancing at Fiesta Pequeña, wearing white for the first time,” said Treviño. “It’s just going to be so, so special.”
During auditions, where she earned the title of Spirit, she performed alegrías — which translates to “joy.” Fittingly, she is most looking forward to dancing at the courthouse during Las Noches de Ronda (Nights of Gaiety).
Trevino plans to continue dancing after high school. “Flamenco just means so much to me,” she said, describing her passion for dance as a lifelong endeavor. “It’s so much fun to just work with different artists and learn more each workshop and class that I take.”
Outside of dance rehearsals, Treviño likes spending time with her friends at the beach, hand-crafting flamenco earrings, and writing and creating short films. She aspires to study film and TV production in college, already having brought to life one of her screenplays with help from industry professionals during the five week 10-10-10 Student Mentorship Program hosted by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Junior Spirit of Fiesta:
Victoria Plascencia
Victoria Plascencia, a 10-year-old Buellton native, has been attending Fiestas for much of her life and dancing since she was 6, first learning from Maria Bermudez and now from Timo Nuñez Arte Flamenco.
Plascencia remembers being 5 years old and watching that year’s Junior Spirit dance in white at Fiesta Pequeña. “And now I’m here, five years later,” she said. “A memory that I’m going to always keep is when I dance on the mission.”
Her favorite routine is her much-anticipated mission dance, which she describes as fast, with “a lot of footwork, and I can really bring out my emotions.”
The 10-year-old has been committed to hours of rehearsals in the lead-up to the big weekend, most of them live in front of audiences, including at retirement homes. Many of the folks in the senior care facilities aren’t able to make it out to the festivities, “so we bring Fiesta to them,” said Plascencia.
In addition to dance, Plascencia is a cheerleader, plays soccer for Santa Barbara Soccer Club, and makes and runs a slime business. The Oak Valley Elementary School student is looking forward to the 5th grade, particularly the science trip, where she will get to stay in a cabin and roast marshmallows with her classmates.
Between performances, Plascencia will be selling her signature slimes at her tía’s cascarones stand during Fiesta.
Saint Barbara:
Julie Romero Hathaway
Julie Romero Hathaway, an eighth-generation Carpinterian, was selected by Golden West Reina Del Mar Parlor No. 126 to be this year’s Saint Barbara.
Being chosen to portray Santa Barbara at Fiesta is an honor that runs deep in Hathaway’s family lore. Her mother, Margaret Jeanne Harp Romero, was Saint Barbara in 1946. When her mother talked about her time as Saint Barbara, Hathaway said, “she always had a smile on her face.”
Hathaway is most looking forward to “meeting people in our community, [seeing] how passionate they are and how proud they are to come from here, and to put on this Fiesta for over 100 years.”
Being honored as Saint Barbara has made her think a lot about legacy; as a new grandmother to 5-month-old Everett, Hathaway is continuing traditions and telling the stories of her family so that her new grandson “can grow up knowing where his background is from.”
She encourages everyone, especially young people, to learn more about their own family histories, because, as Hathaway described, it can be a grounding experience. “Dive in, because everybody’s got a story,” she said.
For the opening night at Fiesta Pequeña, Hathaway will be wearing a simple black cross necklace, the same one worn by her mother in 1946.
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