The annual Milpas Street Holiday Parade, a longtime tradition for Santa Barbara’s Eastside, will no longer take place this year after organizers decided to cancel the event due to concerns over immigration enforcement in the region. This is just the latest large-scale public event to be impacted by fears of immigration enforcement in Santa Barbara, after the downtown Día de los Muertos parade was canceled in November.
On Tuesday, Santa Barbara Eastside Society Board President Sebastian Aldana Jr. and Milpas Street Holiday Parade Director Tere Jurado announced the decision to cancel the event, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, December 13.
“With heavy hearts and profound respect for our neighbors, we, the Santa Barbara Eastside Society, must share a difficult decision: The 2025 Milpas Street Holiday Parade will not take place this year,” Jurado said. “This choice follows many weeks of listening, truly listening, to families, parade participants, parade volunteers, local leaders, and immigrant-rights partners who help us understand the lived experiences of our community.”
Jurado said the wave of arrests made by federal immigration enforcement on the Central Coast have stoked fears in the community, and “the threat to our Latino families, documented or undocumented, remains very real.”
“The presence of immigration enforcement in our region, the fear it generates, and the uncertainty families continue to face are real, immediate, and deeply felt,” she said.
Parade organizers said pausing the parade was the best option to ensure the “well-being, dignity, and safety” of community members.
“For generations, the Milpas Street Holiday Parade has been a space of joy, unity, and cultural pride, an event where every family, regardless of status, could gather safely and celebrate the rich spirit of Santa Barbara’s Eastside,” Jurado said. “Yet this year, many longtime participants have shared that the level of fear and vulnerability they are experiencing makes joining a large public event feel unsafe. To move forward without honoring those concerns would contradict the very values that this parade was built upon.”
The Santa Barbara Eastside Society will continue to look for ways to bring the parade back next year.
“This decision is not easy,” Jurado said. “But it is rooted in care, solidarity, and an unwavering commitment to stand with our community during uncertain times.”
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