In celebration of Halloween this year, UC Santa Barbara, local government bodies and community organizations are hosting events and activities for students and residents of Isla Vista and its surrounding areas.
The Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) is hosting a slate of free events on Oct. 28 from 3-10 p.m. for its “Spooky Spectacular” event held in the I.V. Community Center. The activities will kick off with a family-friendly carnival from 3-5 p.m., featuring games, a hay ride, face painting and Halloween crafts, along with a photo booth and silent disco running until 8 p.m.
The event will proceed with a children’s costume contest from 5-6 p.m. arranged as a runway-style show, with an emcee and prizes for the winners. The adult costume contest from 6-7 p.m. involves a $1,000 prize. IVCSD is putting on an “Ecstatic Dance” in partnership with Santa Barbara Ecstatic Dance Co-op from 8-10 p.m to finish the night off.
IVCSD is also hosting a Halloween-themed version of their monthly Latinx Community Dance Socials. This month’s event will be held from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Oct. 29 at the I.V. Community Center.
IVCSD approved $10,000 in grant funding, distributed to multiple local organizations putting on Halloween events to go toward their individual event programming. St. George Youth Center YMCA, Santa Barbara Hillel, I.V. Outdoor Market, I.V. Recreation & Park District and the I.V. Food Cooperative received grants this year.
St. George Youth Center is putting on its annual haunted house — an event that was temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic — on Oct. 29 from 6-9 p.m. at 889 Camino Del Sur. Haunted house attendees will receive goodie bags filled with Halloween memorabilia, “as well as literature promoting a safe Halloween Do’s and Dont’s,” according to the center’s grant application.
Santa Barbara Hillel — an organization dedicated to Jewish student life — is hosting a multicultural Shabbat dinner on Oct. 28 from 6:45-9 p.m. catered by a local restaurant, free and open to the general public. Afterward, the group will walk to the UCSB Recreation Center to attend its Hallowheels event.
I.V. Outdoor Market is hosting a Halloween market on Oct. 29 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the general community. The organizers are providing free outdoor games and baked goods and candies to anyone wearing a Halloween costume.
A.S. Program Board presents Delirium
UCSB Associated Students Program Board is sponsoring its annual concert coinciding with Halloween weekend on Oct. 29 in the Thunderdome. Artists Isaiah Rashad and Binki will be performing. The event is open to UCSB students only, and a valid Access Card is required for entry. Tickets are $5 and must be purchased online in advance.
UCSB Department of Recreation puts on annual Hallowheels
UCSB’s Department of Recreation will be hosting their annual Hallowheels event on Oct. 28 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. The event will feature rolling skating, a silent disco, a photo booth, costume contests, a concert, a spooky movie and free food and candy. The event is only open to UCSB students, faculty and staff and will require an Access Card for entrance.
Campus resource centers offer pumpkin painting
UCSB’s Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity is hosting their second annual pumpkin painting event on Thursday Oct. 27 from 3:30-5:30pm. Registration is free for UCSB students on Shoreline, and the event is located at the Northside Front Lawn of the Student Resource Building.
The Non-Traditional Student Resource Center will be hosting a pumpkin painting event on the Student Resource Building Bike Path Lawn on Oct. 25th from 4-6pm.
A.S. EVPLA Office hosts “Haunt the Loop”
The External Vice President for Local Affairs is hosting a “Haunt the Loop” event on Saturday, Oct. 29 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The event will allow participants to “truck-or-treat” at several local Isla Vista businesses, beginning at Pardall Center and ending at Anisq’Oyo’ Park.
The Isla Vista Recreation & Park District (IVRPD) is collaborating with Lucidity Festival to hold a three-day event that will celebrate both Halloween and its 50th anniversary as a governing body. As part of the activities, IVRPD’s Haunted Pumpkin Patch is returning to Isla Vista, located in Anisq’Oyo’ Park for the nights of Oct. 29-31 from 7-11 p.m.
“This free, outdoor event will feature an immersive theatrical experience with live-action story tellers, film screenings, carnival games and activities, two silent disco nights, a Ferris Wheel, Día de Los Muertos altars, costume contest, and a live Thriller flash mob performance by World Dance for Humanity,” IVRPD Board Clerk Nick Norman said in a press release.
Santa Barbara County is imposing a Halloween festival noise ordinance, effective from Oct. 26 through Nov. 4 between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. During these hours, Isla Vistans are prohibited from playing live or recorded music that audibly carries outside of their residence.
Additionally, parking restrictions and road closures will be in effect from Oct. 28 through Oct. 31. Phelps Road will be fenced off, and roadblocks may be placed on the following intersections: Trigo Road and Embarcadero del Norte, El Embarcadero Road and the Loop, Camino del Sur and Sabado Tarde Road, Camino Pescadero and Sabado Tarde Road, Camino Corte and Sabado Tarde Road, as well as Del Playa Drive and Camino Corto.
Cars parked on the 6500 block of Trigo Road must be moved from the road starting Oct. 28 at 12 p.m. until Oct. 31 or will otherwise be towed. Residents are strongly recommended to move their cars if parked along Del Playa Drive and Sabado Tarde Road.
The police may place roadblocks restricting access to Del Playa Drive and Sabado Tarde Road and require proof of residence for access to closed-off road areas.
UCSB is restricting visitors from staying overnight in residence halls and off-campus university apartments during Halloween weekend. No overnight visitor parking on campus will be permitted for Friday or Saturday nights. Students with an Annual Night & Weekend Permit can park in designated campus lots starting Oct. 28 at 9 a.m. to Oct. 31.
A version of this article appeared on p. 5 of the Oct. 27, 2022 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
