GLENDALE : Days of Verdugo Festival Under Way

Glendale’s annual celebration of its historic roots began this week with a carnival featuring more than 30 rides at Verdugo Park and will conclude next weekend with an evening parade through the city’s downtown.

The Days of Verdugo festival and community fair will continue through Oct. 16, featuring live bands, games, food from an assortment of local restaurants, bingo games and an arts and crafts show. Admission for adults is $2. Children 5 and under admitted free.

The 47th annual Days of Verdugo parade is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. The parade will begin on Brand Boulevard at Harvard Street and continue north to Doran Street. Sponsored by the Glendale Junior Chamber of Commerce, the parade will feature local dignitaries and high school marching bands from across the Southland competing for trophies and a cash prize.

Days of Verdugo commemorates the settling of the Glendale area in 1784 by Jose Maria de Berdugo, a Spanish corporal. In time, the Berdugo (later spelled Verdugo) family came to own some 36 million acres of land that now includes Glendale, La Canada, La Crescenta, Montrose, Sunland, Burbank and adjacent communities.