Edhat Staff
Scroll through the above photos of the Historical Fiesta parade by Fritz Olenberger
Update by edhat staff
Old Spanish Days historic Fiesta parade drew thousands of spectators and over hundreds of horses to State Street on Friday afternoon.
This was the 95th anniversary of El Desfile Histórico featuring hundreds of floats and historic carriages, coaches, and wagons. The parade started at the west end of Cabrillo Boulevard and proceeded east along the beach to State Street, concluding at Sola Street.
This is one of the nation’s largest equestrian parades. Every year the dedicated staff of edhat.com counts the number of horses, not mules or donkeys, in the parade. Edhat readers submitted their best guess and we’ve picked the winner who guessed the closest number.
We counted a total of 492 horses in this year’s parade. The winner is Patrick who guessed 499 horses. Congrats and viva la Fiesta!
By edhat staff
It’s our annual horse counting parade! We do it every year, and every year the numbers change. One edhat staffer will watch the parade in close detail and count how many horses took place in the parade. Keep in mind, we only count horses. Not mules, donkeys, or bulls. Yes, sometimes a man rides a bull, it’s fun.
What’s the prize? Great question! We’ll be giving away a Fiesta poster signed by this year’s La Presidenta, a vintage Fiesta poster, Fiesta pins, and some edhat swag.
Submit your guess of how many horses will be in this year’s parade by Thursday, August 1st at 5:00 p.m. A winner will be contacted after the parade has concluded.
Guessing has closed.
RULES
- One entry per person
- Email address on the entry must be tied to an edhat account [They’re free! .]
- Entry must be received by Thursday, August 1 at 5:00 p.m.
- The person who guesses the closest number of horses will be declared the winner
- Winner will receive a signed Fiesta poster, a vintage Fiesta poster, Fiesta pins, and edhat swag.
- Winner will be notified after the parade has ended.
EVENT DETAILS
The parade starts at the west end of Cabrillo Boulevard, proceeds east along the beach to State Street, then up State Street to Sola Street.
Will I was close but cannot win.
Oh man! I was about to guess 499 but changed my mind at the ladt minute. Darn!
Yikes! That poor horse 🙁
I always heard there were 500, and I figured one might be sick, so I went with 499. Lucky guess.
Felt sad for the 3 poor horses that fell on the concrete and had such a hard time getting up.
I can’t wait to see Edhat’s official horse count from the parade.
Congratulations, Patrick! It seems there were 600 last year, way down on horses this year. It has gotten really expensive to enter now. They want a $175.00 for one day liability insurance, plus $75 to enter the parade. Used to be, when I started riding, everything was free. Horses were at the Pershing Park showgrounds and the stalls, straw bedding, and alfalfa hay were all free. We kids had a ball, kept our horses there during Fiesta, for the parade on Thursday and the Cablagata on Friday.
LOV- They don’t. When I was in a school marching band we were told to stomp right thru. In white tennis shoes. My mother was not thrilled.