Calendar of Events
Whatever time of year you visit Santa Barbara, you might want to make your to-do lists in pencil rather than pen. Year-round sunshine, ocean views and laid-back luxury set the stage for an abundance of festivals, concerts and special events.
Starting with the star-studded Santa Barbara International Film Festival (January/February), the calendar of The American Riviera® overflows with culture, color, food and fun. Signature events include Old Spanish Days Fiesta, Summer Solstice Parade, Harbor & Seafood Festival, Vintners' Festival, epicure.sb: a month to savor santa barbara, Earth Day Festival and more.
And those are just the special events (though Santa Barbara does have a way of making almost any event special). Live music fills the air above the Santa Barbara Bowl from spring to fall. Local artisans share their work at arts and crafts shows every Sunday and 1st Thursday celebrations every month. Farmers markets, writing conferences, art exhibits, theater performances, lectures - whatever your passion, you'll find something wonderful during your stay. In fact, many somethings. So do bring you planner - just remember that pencil.
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Wednesday May 16, 2012
- May 16, 2012 - July 31, 2012
- Recurrence: Recurring daily
- Times: Mon-Sat 6AM-7PM; Sun 6AM-6PM
- Location: Anna's Bakery
- Address: 7018 Marketplace Drive, Goleta, CA 93117
- Phone: 805-898-1419
In 1998, upon discovering Santa Barbara as a tourist, Maine-resident Nancy Rinn quickly packed up her family and moved here, never looking back. Parts of her ten-year stay in the rock-bound, blueberry-growing state of Maine have crept back into her consciousness and are explored in this colorful show of her newest works: cats from Maine shelters, rocks that make Maine's coast uniquely beautiful yet forbidding, and more.
- May 16, 2012 - August 12, 2012
- Recurrence: Recurring weekly on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
- Times: 11AM-5PM, except Mondays
- Address: 1130 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
- Phone: 805-963-4364
- Venue: Santa Barbara Museum of Art
This exhibition will examine the enduring love affair between Southern Californians and their automobiles. Chosen from SBMA’s permanent collection, these photographs explore the psychological place of the car in Southern California life.
- May 16, 2012 - September 03, 2013
- Recurrence: Recurring daily
- Times: 10:30AM-4:30PM
- Address: 27 W Anapamu, Suite #226, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
- Phone: 805-705-0562
- Venue: Adventure Hummer and Backroads Wine Tours
Nestled between lakes, forest and the ocean are over 150 vineyards that beckon to travelers to taste some of the finest wines in the country. Our daily tour is aboard a fleet of open air and enclosed luxury Hummers. Tours include tasting fees, souvenir wine glass and a delicious lunch.
- May 16, 2012
- Times: 7AM or 8AM
- Location: Boat departs from Ventura Harbor.
- Address: 1603 Anchors Way Drive, Ventura, CA 93001
- Phone: 805-884-9283
Explore sea caves and more on the majestic Channel Islands with Santa Barbara Adventure Company! This incredible guided-tour offers kayaking around the islands, whale watching on the boat ride over, and exploration on the island itself making for an unforgettable experience. Call for availability.
- May 16, 2012 - May 31, 2012
- Recurrence: Recurring daily
- Times: Varying event times. See website for details.
- Location: Varying event locations. See website for details.
A month-long celebration reaching thousands of Santa Barbara cyclists and community members with wide-ranging bike events for all, CycleMAYnia is a collaboration of community members and organizations.
- May 16, 2012 - May 17, 2012
- Address: 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105-2126
- Phone: 805-682-4726
- Venue: Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Celebrate Spring on the largest and most diverse of the California Channel Islands. Explore pine forests, wooded canyons, coastal headlands, desert beaches, and isolated coves. Stay at the University of California station in the Central Valley for three nights. This trip will also include a chef who will be preparing delicious meals. More detailed information sent with confirmations.
- May 16, 2012 - May 17, 2012
- Location: Santa Cruz Island
- Phone: 805-682-4726 x:102
The second trip to Santa Cruz Island is scheduled for May 14 – 17. Participants on this adventure will be exploring the largest and most diverse island off our coast on foot and in 4WD vehicles. They will have a chance to explore pine forests, wooded canyons, coastal headlands, deserted beaches, and isolated coves. The group will stay at the University of California field station in the island’s Central Valley and a private chef will be preparing delicious meals for the group. Steve... Details
- May 16, 2012 - May 19, 2012
- Recurrence: Recurring weekly on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
- Times: Opening Reception: Fri 3/23 5:30-7:30PM, Regular Hours: 1-5PM Tues-Sat
- Location: The Arts Fund Gallery
- Address: 205C Santa Barbara St. @ Yanonali, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
- Phone: 805-965-7321
James Hapke is the 2011 Individual Artist Award Recipient in Printmaking. Art show presented by The Arts Fund.
- May 16, 2012
- Times: 8:30-10AM
- Address: 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105-2126
- Venue: Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
From raptors to hummingbirds ... join our experienced naturalist leader as she looks and listens for the diverse and beautiful birds of Mission Canyon.
- May 16, 2012 - June 03, 2012
- Recurrence: Recurring daily
- Times: Opening Reception on 1st Thursday, March 1, 2012 from 5-8PM
- Address: 7 E. Anapamu, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
- Phone: 805-730-1460
- Venue: Sullivan-Goss Books/Arts & Letters Cafe
Since 1984, Sullivan Goss has represented Fisher's work, and upon her death in 1995, the gallery purchased her estate. This marks her sixth solo show with the gallery. Anya Fisher: Kaleidoscope will be on view in the contemporary gallery across from Howard Warshaw: New Forms.
- May 16, 2012 - July 01, 2012
- Recurrence: Recurring daily
- Times: Opening Reception: 4/5 during 1st Thursday from 5-8PM
- Address: 7 E. Anapamu, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
- Phone: 805-730-1460
- Venue: Sullivan-Goss Books/Arts & Letters Cafe
Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery is proud to present JOSEPH GOLDYNE: WATERFALLS, the international debut of a breathtaking new body of paintings by critically acclaimed artist, Joseph Goldyne.
- May 16, 2012 - July 01, 2012
- Recurrence: Recurring daily
- Times: Daily Gallery Hours
- Address: 7 E. Anapamu, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
- Phone: 1.805.730.1460
- Venue: Sullivan-Goss Books/Arts & Letters Cafe
Anders Aldrin (1899-1970) moved to Los Angeles in 1923 with a passion for painting that had been suppressed for most of his life. Aldrin succeeded in preserving a historic record of this shift in industrialization through his expressive and boldly colored paintings.
- May 16, 2012 - May 17, 2012
- Times: 7PM
- Location: La Cumbre Junior High School
- Phone: (805) 884-0459 x13
The Magical Seaweed: Mica's Adventure in the Sea of Plastic, a play by Isaac Hernandez and performed by students from Open Alternative School (OAS), opens at La Cumbre Junior High Theatre on March 16 and 17, at 6:00 pm. The play, inspired in part by a field trip taught by Art From Scrap Green Schools environmental educators, focuses greatly on the negative impacts that plastic litter is having upon the world's oceans, and adds large doses of humor to this serious topic.
- May 16, 2012 - June 01, 2012
- Recurrence: Recurring daily
- Times: 1st Thursday Reception: 5/3, 5-8PM; Exhibit on view M-F 9AM-5PM
- Location: CASA Gallery
- Address: 23 E. Canon Perdido, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
- Phone: 805-965-6448
Lenore Tolegian Hughes launches her coming of age novel, Cups of Fortune, which fills each reader with the longing to eat well, laugh out loud and predict the future in their coffee cup like an Armenian fortune-teller.
- May 16, 2012
- Recurrence: Recurring daily
- Times: Daily Departures to Accommodate Guests
- Location: Visitors Center - 1 Garden Street or hotel pick-up
- Address: P.O. Box 90251, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
- Phone: 805-448-8425
1-hour, 15 min narrated city tour of Santa Barbara and Montecito. Highlights include the Mission, El Presidio, Wharf/Harbor, Courthouse, family fun spots, celebrity trivia and a breathtaking view from the Riviera. Small lap dogs welcome. The wine tour takes you to 4 vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley. Included are your tasting fees and an organic picnic lunch. Visit Solvang (Danish Community), do some olive oil tasting and stop by the 125 year old Cold Springs Tavern (optional... Details
