Tag archives: Halloween

In my 22nd year covering the Annual Ghost Village Road, the energy the community brought out this year was everything.  Local schools represented – from Montecito Union School, Crane Country Day School, Laguna Blanca Lower and Upper schools, to Peabody School, Providence School, home school kids, La Colina School, and Santa Barbara Middle School. Parents […]

Many years ago I was gamboling about the Peabody Charter school playground with my toddler, a redheaded sunflower (today a 6’ grizzled Viking). At a given moment, another little boy of about six years old approached out of the blue, stood before me, and without preamble began declaiming.  “There’s no such thing as ghosts or […]

While on a normal night, San Ysidro Ranch’s Speakeasy at Plow & Angel has an intimate, moody ambiance – for Halloween evening the space will be transformed into the speakeasy of your dreams (well, to keep with the theme, let’s say nightmares – but really, it will be quite dreamy).  Enter the stone-lined space to […]

It’s that time of year again! On October 31st, join the CVA for Ghost Village Road for family fun on Coast Village Road where the magic of trick-or-treating comes alive. Businesses will be generously treating those in costume with the best treats, and you’ll love seeing all the creative costumes!

While Lost in Yonkers walks a fine line between poignancy and humor, there’s no such balancing act in the play that opens Ensemble Theatre Company’s 46th season this month. Unless you count the challenge of mastering the fast pacing, quick-change scenes, joke-filled dialog and sheer physicality of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, Gordon Greenberg and […]

Social gadabout Rick Oshay and his galpal Teresa Kuskey put the “fun” into Funk Zone when they threw a spooktacular Halloween bash with the gloriously camp and colorful La Boheme Dancers at the home of the Topa Topa Brewing Company and the Fox Wine Company. More than 170 guests, most of them creatively garbed, turned […]

Photos by Joanne A Calitri The 21st Annual Ghost Village Road event took place with much enthusiasm, pomp, and costuming this year! The hallmark of the event is the amazing support of the Coast Village Road realtors, restaurants, shops, and banks in great Halloween costumes and spirits serving up treats and entertainment, especially the teams […]

Pumpkins, costumes, and candy, oh my. Yes, it’s almost All Hallows’ Eve and as always, Santa Barbara steps up this weekend ahead of the actual trick-or-treating time on Tuesday. We’ve chosen to highlight a few events with an eye toward something for everyone.  The Library, SBPAL, Santa Barbara Parks and Rec, and the Santa Barbara […]

Coast Village Road’s popular trick-or-treating event, Ghost Village Road, is happening next week, from 3 pm to 6 pm on Tuesday, October 31. The event attracts  roughly 2,000 costumed kids and their parents each year. Many of the Lower Village’s business owners report they will take part in the festivities, passing out candy and other […]

It was a spooktacular Halloween weekend when the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History hosted a fearsome fundraiser for adults with all 250 of the $120 tickets being snapped up for a spine-tingling bash, with ghostly halls and spooky woods. Creatively costumed guests met frightful and delightful curiosities around each and every corner and at […]

The Montecito Country Mart held its annual Halloween festivities on Sunday, October 30, from 1 to 5 pm. The pumpkin patch in the center of the mart was the main area of gathering for kids and parents in costume. Kristin Teufel, manager of the mart for J.S. Rosenfield & Company, organized the event and helping […]

Despite mixed messages from multiple media sources, word on the street is that Ghost Village Road, Coast Village Road’s popular trick-or-treating event, is happening this year, from 3-6 pm on Monday, October 31. Historically the event draws roughly 2,000 costumed kids, parents, and pets each year. Many of the Lower Village’s business owners report they […]

“Thrill the World” is a global event that happens each year on the Saturday before Halloween, when thousands of enthusiastic zombies gather to perform “Thriller” – unleashing their inner zombie for fun and for charity. From Arizona to West Virginia, Austria to Taiwan, people of all ages will rise from the undead at the same […]

The Pumpkin Queen is in need of your assistance again. It seems that scoundrel Louie D’Ville is now scheming with the despicable Chuck Bunger to turn all of Isla Vista into parking lots, strip malls, and high rises.  Yes, with October coming to a close, IV Recreation & Park District and Lucidity Festival’s Halloween Haunted […]

This week we’re getting into the spirit of the season! Because there’s no doubt about it, 2022 has been huge for horror. From franchise favorites Michael Myers and Pinhead making a return to the big (and small) screen, to a major outpouring of original works that have got horror fans drooling. Ti West’s Xand Pearl, […]

While the past two years have been unkind to so many, live event producers have faced unprecedented challenges. The core concept of their craft has been at stake, with countless live events being cancelled. This was very true for Lucidity Festival, which was only a month or so out when the shutdown occurred. The Lucidity […]

The annual Ghost Village Road was more than packed, with trick-or-treaters starting early at 2:30 pm and parents happily leading in full-on costumes themselves. It was the perfect pairing of gloomy overcast skies and lots of goodies from the generous shops and restaurants from the Montecito Country Mart down Coast Village Road. The kids wore […]

Back in early 2020, Nebula Dance Lab had planned to produce a ballet version of Island of the Blue Dolphins to celebrate the local story’s 60th anniversary since the publication of the novel. But a decision to delve deeper in diversity issues revolving around Dolphin produced a pandemic pivot to adapt another tale of a […]

After a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghost Village Road, the popular trick-or-treat event along Coast Village Road, is set for this Sunday, Halloween, from 3 pm to 6 pm. While the event typically draws roughly 2,500 costumed kids, parents, and pets each year, it is expected that this year’s event will be […]

Westmont College has received a grant of $1 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Westmont Center for Thriving Communities. Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative funds the program. This national initiative seeks to strengthen Christian congregations to help people deepen their faith in God, build strong relationships with each other and contribute to […]