Andrew Lovato Book Signing and Reading Elvis Romero and Fiesta de Santa Fe

Join Dr. Andrew Leo Lovato in the Palace Courtyard at 11 am on Saturday, Sept. 10, as he reads from his new Museum of New Mexico Press book, Elvis Romero and Fiesta de Santa Fe, featuring "Zozobra's Great Escape."  The event includes music, refreshments and a book signing, courtesy of Museum of New Mexico Press.

A free event.

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 Conquistadora. Over the generations, this event – the oldest community celebration in the nation – has evolved to include elaborate parades and processions, including the royal court of DeVargas and La Reina, and the burning in effigy of Zozobra, or Old Man Gloom. 

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,” he writes.

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.

Lovato is a professor of speech communication at Santa Fe Community College and the author of numerous books and articles relating to New Mexico history and culture, including Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in a Tourist Town (University of New Mexico Press).