Colorado's oldest town threw its biggest party in generations last weekend. The Fiesta de Santiago y Santa Ana ran July 23–26 in San Luis, and this year it did double duty — marking the town's 175th anniversary alongside America's 250th birthday.

A town of roughly 500 people swelled to nearly 4,000 for four days of celebration.

San Luis's actual founding date is April 5, but Town Manager Teddy Leinbach said organizers moved the big celebration to summer years ago for practical reasons — nobody wants to travel to a town sitting near 8,000 feet when a spring blizzard could hit, and July is simply when people are already on the road. This year, that timing let San Luis fold its own milestone into the nation's.

Visitors got more than a party. The town's Heritage Center — a WPA-era building that sat closed for years after burst pipes left it uninhabitable — reopened after a four-year, grant-funded restoration.

Inside, it houses colcha embroidery, a recreated Penitente morada, historic santos, and a diorama of the original village.

Just outside town, San Luis native Huberto Maestas's Stations of the Cross sculptures remain one of the Valley's most striking pieces of public art.

Add in a car show, a dance with a traditional Mexican band, food, and four days of entertainment, and it's easy to see why Leinbach called this year's Fiesta worth the trip for out-of-towners.

I made the trip down myself this year, and for a town that's been here since 1851, San Luis still knows how to throw a celebration that's worth the drive.

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