On September 16, 1712, the first Fiesta council signed a proclamation declaring there should be a celebration to commemorate the anniversary of the 1692 reconquest (recolonization) of New Mexico by General Don Diego de Vargas (1643–1704).

The King of Spain appointed de Vargas to lead the exiled colonists in their reoccupation of Santa Fe by surrounding the city with cannons and threatening the Pueblo Indians residing inside with death.

Hewett re-envisioned the Fiesta as a celebration of the history of New Mexico from prehistoric times to the annexation by the United States and rooted in the culture of the Native Americans, Hispanos and Anglos.

[3][4] The Fiesta Council responded to these criticisms by emphasizing peaceful co-existence of the indigenous and Hispanic communities and their shared Catholic faith.

[13][14] The start of Fiestas is marked by the beginning of the Novena masses, which start during the Knighting and Coronation of Don Diego de Vargas and La Reina de Santa Fe in which a procession which takes La Conquistadora from the Cathedral Basilica to the Rosario Chapel, at Rosario Cemetery in Santa Fe.