Summer Solstice
Santa Barbara’s Summer Solstice festival is one of the biggest events of its kind in southern California, a three-day celebration featuring hundreds of artists and performers and attracting upward of 100,000 visitors each year.
The centerpiece is a carnivalesque parade with big floats, Brazilian drummers, giant puppets, circus performers, kids in costume, dance ensembles and fabulous passistas wearing feathers and sequins (and not much else).
Solstice traces back to the mid-1970s. The event began as an elaborate birthday celebration for the late artist, dancer and mime Michael Gonzales. It turned into a famously edgy and freewheeling annual parade, one that used to shock and amaze spectators along State Street with its nude dancers and wacky BDSM-themed performance pieces.
The event went on to inspire Solstice and pride activities in other cities across the country—most notably the Fremont Solstice Parade in Seattle. But the animating spirit of the Santa Barbara parade has been lost to some extent as the event has been reined in, cleaned up and made “safe” for families, kids and tourists.
Today Solstice has been rebranded as a community arts event—a year-round operation managed by a big-budget nonprofit with a professional staff and dozens of partner organizations throughout the city.
Solstice isn’t the spectacle it was in the early days but it’s still one of California’s best street parties. After covering the event for nearly two decades, I’m convinced there’s no better place to celebrate the longest days of the year. Here’s a collection of my images.