‘Reminiscent of “Footloose”’: Isla Vista Community Talks Best Ways to Balance Safety and Fun with Deltopia 

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This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

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A team of security guards checked backpacks, tote bags, and purses as more than four hundred people filtered into Isla Vista Theater last week for a town hall event. They gathered to discuss a noise ordinance that would shut down the community’s biggest party weekend, Deltopia. To the right of the entrance, a line for students extended down Trigo Road. To the entrance’s left, the line for long-term residents was about 10 feet long. 

Student involvement and community buy-in: that was the crux of the evening’s conversation surrounding the noise ordinance. The ordinance would place a 72-hour ban on amplified music during Deltopia weekend, usually the first weekend of spring quarter. It would act as an extension of an existing ordinance, which prohibits loud music from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. that weekend.  

Many students said that an attempt to control the party without student collaboration would be unsuccessful. 

“I feel like this is almost reminiscent of, to make an analogy, Footloose, where a town banned dancing to stop trouble, but it didn’t necessarily make people safer,” one public commenter said. “It just pushed the energy underground until they found a compromise that balanced joy and safety, and I think Isla Vista deserves that same balance.” 

Deltopia, a large unsanctioned block party, brings thousands of people — both locals and out-of-towners — onto Del Playa Drive. Each year, the event spurs arrests, DUIs, sexual assaults, and medical emergencies, along with trashed streets. 

“In 2025 there were about 600 arrests and citations [and] five DUIs. There were 57 people treated at a medical tent that was right here in the parking lot, and then 12 people were sent straight to the hospital,” Jonathan Abboud, general manager of the Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD), told the crowd. 

All told, the county has spent about $5 million on law enforcement costs, Abboud said. 

UC Santa Barbara’s student government hosted the town hall, which included a brief history of Deltopia, a panel with different stakeholders, and time for public comment. Panelists included Associated Students External Vice President of Local Affairs EJ Raad, Lieutenant Schmidt of the Isla Vista Foot Patrol, and Myah Mashhadialireza, IVCSD’s community programs and engagement director. 

Raad said that the ordinance was created without broad community input — and that was a major problem. 

“When there isn’t community buy-in, in my opinion, it’s very hard to have community support. I’m of the opinion the ordinance will simply push students to try to have Deltopia at some other time, in some other form,” Raad said. 

Other students agreed that without community agreement, the ordinance would fail to keep people safe. 

“We deserve to be consulted if you’re trying to control us,” a public commenter said. “Deltopia — it’s like a Hydra. You cut the head off, two more are going to grow back. This isn’t a simple solution.” 

Raad pointed to the origins of Deltopia — Floatopia — a party on the beach that started organically about 20 years ago. Floatopia grew in size due to posts about the event on Facebook, said IVCSD General Manager Abboud,  and eventually prompted law enforcement to close the beaches. The result? Deltopia first started in 2010. Deltopia grew too, bringing with it a rise in crime and medical emergencies. 

“2013 was a rough year,” Abboud said. “There were a lot of health and safety issues. Somebody died. There was a balcony collapse that my friends were on,” he said. He said the medical transcript rate doubled, and the community was generally trashed. 

That caused the county to enforce a festival ordinance that banned music during the day in 2014; Abboud said there were still parties. He said that in 2014, a riot broke out at night. 

In the years after the riot, the block party grew a little  calmer. Post-Covid, the size and medical emergencies have ramped up again. 

I.V. Foot Patrol Lieutenant Schmidt, a former Gaucho, brought up the strain on resources and the increase in crime that comes with the event. 

“We see a surge of medical emergencies [and] increase in violent and sexual assaults,” he said. “Cell phones don’t work because of all these out-of-town crowds. We cannot sustain this amount of cell phone coverage, so it’s difficult to get on your cell phone, and it comes at a high cost to taxpayers.” 

Schmidt said that he had brought the ordinance to Raad in September before he had brought it to UCSB police (a different entity than I.V. Foot Patrol, which is part of the county Sheriff’s Office). 

“We’re not trying to kill Delatopia,” Schmidt said. “We’re trying to rebrand it into something that’s sanctioned and less harmful because we have seen too much tragedy become of Deltopia.” 

Other community members brought up how a sanctioned event could help local students party more safely. 

“A controlled environment doesn’t mean restricting fun. It means setting clear expectations and providing a structure so students can celebrate without unnecessary risks,” said a local business owner. 

For Mashhadialireza, IVCSD’s community programs and engagement director, the goal is safety. Mashhadialireza said that IVCSD puts on a Spring Festival alternative and provides resources like food and water, as well as safety stations, each year. The local organization is currently brainstorming a “headliner” to offset the loss of the organic event — either an enclosed campus event for UCSB students or an open-concept celebration around the Embarcadero Loop. 

After the town hall, Spencer Brandt, president of IVCSD, said it was postponing the decision on whether to support the ordinance to December 1.

“This week’s town hall made crystal clear that a more collaborative approach is needed to address health and safety during major community events,” Brandt wrote in a press release. 

Brandt said he was continuing discussions with the county, UCSB, students, and long-term residents with the goal of creating a safer, organized and permitted event.