Eleven months of planning.
Four hundred volunteers.
At least 10,000 plates of pancakes.
That’s what it takes to organize Pancakes on the Plaza, a Fourth of July favorite in Santa Fe for more than 40 years.
Per usual, Santa Feans can expect all-day festivities Thursday in honor of Independence Day. From 9 a.m. to noon, the Rotary Club of Santa Fe will host the 47th annual Pancakes on the Plaza. And from 4 to 10 p.m., the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe Kiwanis will partner for a fireworks display at Santa Fe Place mall.
The hope for both events, organizers said, is to show locals a good time.
“This is a community event. This is an event for the citizens of Santa Fe to go down and enjoy the Plaza,” said Dick Jones, one of the Rotary Club’s coordinators for Pancakes on the Plaza.
For some volunteers, Pancakes on the Plaza will begin hours, days, weeks or months before the first flapjack finishes cooking Thursday morning. A team of pancake flippers and breakfast servers will descend on the Plaza by 5:30 a.m. Thursday, Jones said, to make sure the coffee is brewed, the sausage defrosted, the batter ready and the griddles hot.
But for those on the other side of the griddle Thursday morning, the event — which, per tradition, also involves a vintage car show, arts and crafts fair and live entertainment — is a chance to sit back, relax and enjoy the day, said Vic Brenneisen, sponsorship chair for the event.
“Pancakes on the Plaza is just a great, great opportunity for folks to get together with friends and neighbors,” he said.
Proceeds from Pancakes on the Plaza will benefit the Rotary Club’s ongoing philanthropic projects. As part of its 100th anniversary this year, the Rotary Club of Santa Fe will continue its giving to the Santa Fe Children’s Museum and YouthWorks’ Social Justice Kitchen.
Over the past four years, the club has raised $250,000 for each organization, Brenneisen said, with the fruits of its latest philanthropy — a refurbished amphitheater and performance space in the children’s museum’s Backyard — slated to open to the public Friday.
This year, the club is looking to fund audio and lighting equipment for the Santa Fe Children’s Museum’s new amphitheater, Jones added
“We feel that this work that we’re doing is really having an impact on the Santa Fe community,” he said.
Later Thursday — presumably after a pancake-induced nap — Santa Fe Kiwanis will host the city’s nighttime Independence Day festivities, including a fireworks show, at Santa Fe Place mall.
“We will have almost 18 food trucks, four bands throughout the night and an amazing fireworks show to celebrate our nation’s birth,” said Ray Sandoval, the club’s event chair.
Admission to the event is free, with free parking available in the mall’s and surrounding parking lots. Recreational vehicles and tailgating are welcome, though grills and open flames are not.
Sandoval also framed the city’s official fireworks display as a safer option when compared to individual firework use in Santa Fe’s dry climate — particularly as fires rage elsewhere in the state.
“By having these large professional shows — with [firefighters] right on site — this is a much safer way to celebrate the Fourth of July,” he said.
As soon as the griddles cool and fireworks fizzle Thursday, planning can begin for next year’s festivities. The first meeting for those organizing 2025’s Pancakes on the Plaza, Jones said, is scheduled for the second week of July.
