Elvis Romero and Fiesta de Santa Fe: Featuring Zozobra’s Great Escape: Featuring Zozobra’s Great Escape

For three centuries, the Fiesta de Santa Fe has commemorated historical events including the Spanish reconquest of New Mexico by Don Diego de Vargas in 1692 and the confraternity of the Rosary named in honor of La Conquistadors. Over the generations the oldest community celebration in the country has evolved to include elaborate parades and processions, including the royal court of De Vargas and La Reins, and memorably, the burning in effigy of Zozobra, or Old Man Gloom, drawing locals and visitors each autumn. Accompanied by rare historical photographs, this book illuminates what is special about Santa Fe's yearly celebration in a fiesta memoir and novella centered around Zozobra by Santa Fe native and cultural observer Andrew Leo Lovato. "Children are the heart of Fiesta," writes Lovato. And so enters Lovato's altar ego, a fictional character named Elvis Romero, who, with his cousin Pepa, engages in a scheme to rescue Zozobra from his inevitable demise. In a Huck Finn tale for all ages, Lovato captures the essence of Fiesta de Santa Fe as only a child can experience it. It is a heartwarming tale that will make readers cheer for Elvis—and Zozobra.