State Fest packed Santa Barbara’s downtown last Saturday night with crowds of people dancing to the music spilling out of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs into the wee hours. Organized and coordinated by MJ Morrison to support area businesses and artists, the five-blocks-big event saw families enjoying the festivities early in the evening, giving way to younger folks excited for an unusually lively Easter weekend.
“The first weekend of April, you know college kids had Deltopia, and there wasn’t really anything for locals that felt the equivalent. I wanted to do something really fun, and downtown Santa Barbara has some amazing music venues” said Morrison.
State Fest included eight venues and 30-plus artists performing from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. starting on April 4. Along with headliner False Puppet and a couple dozen more bands and musicians were deejays, visual artists, line dancing, and a performance by ElectriCirque. Featured was the Son y Sabor nightclub that opened last year, popular for Latin music and its three stories of entertainment.
Owner of Son y Sabor, Jacqueline Karlsen, said she hoped that her venue is somewhere the community can smile and dance, especially with the immigration crisis affecting the Latinx community. She also wanted State Fest to reappear next year to help support business downtown.
“State Fest is a way to connect all the businesses because we are all in the same struggle. It connects everyone. It is safe and gives my age folks a place to be on State Street,” said Karlsen.
The eight venues included Wildcat, EOS, The Cruisery, Unbearable, Wine Therapy, Night Lizard, Institution Ale, with covers ranging from free up to $15 for entrance, or $10 with a student ID.
With alcohol on the menu as well as music, both of the night’s major sponsors targeted safety. NightCap makes a covering to go over beverage cups, which was available at each venue to safeguard against drink spiking; Lumenearz creates noise-filtering earplugs for when the music blasts. Morrison said he wanted to provide safety to the community and avoid any bad experiences downtown, all with an eye to the future.
