Rarin’ to Ride 

The PRCA Rodeo isn’t a part of Fiesta at all anymore, after a snafu last year led to the event being moved from the Earl Warren Showgrounds to Santa Ynez, while Warren took up the vacancy by launching their own Santa Barbara Rodeo Days, complete with very similar competitions plus a Santa Barbara Fair & Expo-style carnival featuring rides and more, and a Fiesta-style mercado. Neither venue is doing a rodeo during Fiesta at all this year, though the Showgrounds are continuing to produce the Santa Barbara Rodeo while eschewing the carnival and mercado for smaller ancillary offerings, all taking place the weekend before Fiesta, July 31-August 2. 

Santa Barbara Rodeo continues a longstanding tradition of celebrating the region’s deep-rooted equestrian and vaquero heritage while showcasing some of the sport’s top competitors over three PRCA rodeo performances. Events include bull riding, barrel racing, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping, team roping and more, plus Mutton Bustin’, where young riders test their skills atop sheep during each rodeo performance.

Details and tickets at https://earlwarren.com/events/sb-rodeo.

All’s Fair in Ventura 

Fiesta always comes within the span of the Ventura County Fair early August, and this year is no exception. VCF just got underway on July 29, so there are 10 more days of every fair activity, including concerts, still to come at the ocean-breeze-cooled Seaside Park. The big (?) name Grandstand Stage concerts are included with the very reasonable price of admission to the fair itself, unless you want to spring for special VIP reserve seating tickets. The lineup includes Marshmello (July 30), Isla Vista-born reggae sensation Iration (July 31), Jake Owen (August 1), La Herencia de Patrones ft. Banda Maguey and Banda Toro (August 2), R&B icon Ashanti and rapper Bow Wow (August 3), Switchfoot and Hoobastank (August 4) and Nate Smith (August 5). There’s also Flying U Rodeo, which returns as always on closing weekend August 7-9 for those who have to see a rodeo during Fiesta, and that event does carry an extra $9-$11 admission. 

Visit www.venturacountyfair.org

What? Watts at the Grand

We just got word that the great saxophonist Ernie Watts – the octogenarian who worked for years with Charlie Haden’s band Quartet West, was a mainstay with The Tonight Show band, toured with the Rolling Stones and played on a Frank Zappa album – is the next superstar in the Visiting Artist Series at the new Grand on State piano jazz restaurant club. Watts, who once played in town at the even more intimate but less elegant Jazz Hall just half a block down on Victoria Street in the 1990s, fronts a band featuring locals Jeff Elliott (trumpet and flugelhorn), Tom Gastineau (piano), Dick Weller (drums), and Randy Tico (bass) on Saturday, August 8.  

Visit www.thegrandonstate.com/events