Here's What's Happening in Downtown SB (JULY 2020)

Operation “Light up your Fiesta Spirit” is officially on!

Organizers of the 2020 Reimagined Fiesta invite the community to help keep the Fiesta Spirit Alive

Organizers of Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara invite the community to light up their homes and businesses this Fiesta season to help keep the Fiesta Spirit Alive.

In a community collaboration with local hardware store, The Home Improvement Center, the public can go to the store at 415 E Gutierrez St. in Santa Barbara to purchase the official 2020 Fiesta Poster and Pin as well as Fiesta banners and outdoor yellow, red and green lights.

"Operation ‘Light up your Fiesta Spirit’ is just one way to honor our beloved festival while bringing joy and solidarity into our neighborhoods,” said El Presidente Erik Davis. “We hope seeing the colors and symbols of Fiesta remind the community that we’re all in this together and that there are better days ahead. Hope, joy and optimism have always been a big part of this reimagined Fiesta. Please join us and Light up your Fiesta Spirit Santa Barbara!”

“We are proud to support this effort to bring some Fiesta Spirit to local homes, business storefronts and gardens, Viva la Fiesta!” said store owner Gary Simpson. Gary and his wife Jill Nada have been collecting Fiesta posters for 38 years. They are all on display in the store now through August 9.

Official 2020 Fiesta posters and pins are also available at locally owned Viva Santa Barbara in the Paseo Nuevo Mall and at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum . Fiesta banners and flags can also be purchased from the Carpinteria Flag Factory .

Merchandise including 2020 t-shirts, posters and pins are available on the Old Spanish Days website at www.sbfiesta.org and can be shipped anywhere in the United States.

2020 Design Charrette

The Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Institute of Architects is conducting a 2020 Design Charrette to Reinvigorate, Reinvent, Reimagine, and Repurpose our Downtown with housing, energy, and life. The Charrette will consist of design teams of volunteer architects, landscape architects, planners, engineers, and other experts who will apply their talent and expertise to envision a future Downtown Santa Barbara.

According to Architect Detlev Peikert, AIA “This Charrette could be a vision to inform the community for the next 100 years.”

Input is essential and the broader community is invited to participate. Complete the online survey and share your thoughts on the current Downtown experience. These ideas will help inform the designers as they work to solve problems and illustrate new ideas and visions for Santa Barbara now and into the future.

The design teams will focus on ideas for housing via adaptive reuse of existing buildings, new structures for “opportunity” sites, and development of our public open spaces. A few teams will review the entire promenade area in terms of flow, entry points, and supporting local businesses.

Take the survey!

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