Fiesta Park was a grandstand and sports and entertainment venue in

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. From 1894 to 1916, it served as venue for various exhibitions and festivals, as well as a field for

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pac-12 Con ...

games.

History

Fiesta Park was located in a block bordered by Grand Avenue, 12th Street, Hope Street, and

Pico Boulevard Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribei ...

. This lot had originally belonged to Victor Ponet, a banker and undertaker who also founded Evergreen Cemetery. From 1894 to 1916, it served as a venue for La

Fiesta de Los Angeles Fiesta de los Angeles was a now-defunct parade and festival in Downtown Los Angeles that appeared yearly between 1894 and 1916. It originally featured a parade from the Old Plaza to Fiesta Park, and a multi-day festival that included events at ...

, a springtime parade and festival celebrating Los Angeles' multicultural heritage. In 1901, then-President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

was an honored guest at the Fiesta during a trip to the West Coast. Around the turn of the century, the grounds were used for a variety of sports and entertainment events, ranging from football and baseball games to pony races to a production of "Faust". A number of minor league baseball teams played at Fiesta Park, including the Los Angeles Trilbeys and Los Angeles Echoes. The grounds served as the home field for the Los Angeles Rangers soccer club, a side composed primarily of expatriate Englishmen. In 1910, Fiesta Park was covered with a canvas big top and pressed into service as the venue for the

Los Angeles Auto Show The Los Angeles Auto Show is an annual auto show held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in early December. The LA Auto Show is an OICA sanctioned international exhibition. It is open to the public for ten days each year, filling of exhibit s ...

. This event coincided with a move by many of the California schools from football to rugby, so following the 1910 Auto Show, Fiesta Park was used primarily for tented exhibitions, though bleachers were restored in time for the 1916 football season. Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the festival was discontinued and the grandstands were transported to

Bovard Field Bovard Field was a stadium in Los Angeles, California, on the campus of the University of Southern California. The Trojans football team played here until they moved to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1923 and it was the home of USC baseball ...

Football

The

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

(then called the Fighting Methodists) played several football games in the 1890s and all of their 1916 home football schedule at Fiesta Park. Fiesta Park also served as a home field for St. Vincent's College (now

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

)'s football team.

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

also played some home games in the stadium, as did numerous high school teams, particularly

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest Public education#United States, public high school in the Southern California, Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are ...

(then located Downtown on

Fort Moore Hill A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

) and Polytechnic High School. In the first decade of the 20th century, USC played LA High annually, with the game usually being played at Fiesta Park.

References

{{USC Trojans football navbox Demolished sports venues in California Demolished buildings and structures in Los Angeles American football venues in Los Angeles Baseball venues in Los Angeles Loyola Lions football Occidental Tigers football USC Trojans football venues