What does Solstice bring to our Santa Barbara community?

What Solstice brings to the community and the world is connection, creativity, joy, playfulness, and opportunity, in addition to filling hotels and restaurants, supporting local artists and artisans, giving the underserved opportunities to have a hands-on experience, learning new skills, and spending thousands of dollars in local businesses in the production.

This people-powered, people-created Parade is unique, a homegrown Santa Barbara phenomena. The  3 day music and arts festival and parade brings 100,000 spectators, and 50,000 attendees to the festival, and we do activities, workshops and fundraising events throughout the year. In our 2 month workshop, we pay a staff of artists in residence to work with the community to produce the floats, costumes, masks, giant puppets, an apprenticeship program, youth program. We are working towards that being a living wage!

Solstice really is unique in the way it engages the community in the creation of this annual Parade. People from all walks of life come together to participate in the celebration of life and community to create this people-powered parade. There are no motorized vehicles, no words, no signs, and no symbols.

Executive Director Penny Little, Assemblyman Gregg Hart, Solstice Board President Justin Gunn, Artistic Director Riccardo Morrison at Workshop Opening 2024.

At our Workshop Opening in 2024, Summer Solstice Celebration received a California State Assembly Certificate of Recognition for our service in our community. We invite you to come experience the art of celebration and make this the year you join us in making this amazing parade and festival.Explore possibilities, work with our staff to bring your imagination to life. Join an ensemble! Learn how to make a costume in our Costume Department, or make a mask or creation in our MPP Department (Mask, Props & Puppets). Help paint or help build a float!  Fly solo or collaborate. To keep in touch or find out more, join our mailing list!