Kids at the Bowl with Las Cafeteras

I still remember my first Santa Barbara Bowl show —  Seals & Crofts, in 1975. My mom took us to the show. It was called the County Bowl back then, and the bathrooms were much worse. But the vibrant community heartbeat of the place has remained the same, no matter what’s on the playlist. 

Now, more than 2,000 Santa Barbara County students can have those same kinds of vibrant musical memories, thanks to a collaboration between Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation’s outreach and the Children’s Creative Project (a nonprofit part of the Santa Barbara County Education Office).

Tuesday morning was the annual Kids at the Bowl event, welcoming approximately 2,200 middle and high school students from as far south as Carpinteria and as far north as Santa Maria, and everywhere in between. The excitement in the air was palpable as buses poured in from far and wide so students could enjoy a performance by Las Cafeteras.

The acclaimed band out of East L.A. did a production of Vivan Los Muertos, adapted from their full-stage production Hasta La Muerte: A Day of the Dead Show, which brings the traditions of Día de los Muertos to life through a dynamic blend of music, dance, poetry, and visual storytelling. The kids were mesmerized — and so were the few lucky adults in the audience — as costumed performers entered from the aisles with regal posture and showed reverence for the Indigenous traditions as they made their way to the Ofrenda onstage to place some offerings to their ancestors.

“I’d like to tell you a story, a story about where we are going,” began the offstage voice of a narrator. “Death is not the opposite of life; it is part of it.”

The show went on, connecting with the kids through a powerful blend of music, dance, poetry, and visual storytelling. There was no need for teachers to shush this crowd, Las Cafeteras had their rapt attention, and hands shot up eagerly (from high school and middle school students!) during some audience participation sections. 

Afterward, several Santa Barbara High School students participated in a post-show workshop titled “The Art of Remembering” with Las Cafeteras, engaging in the sacred act of remembrance. Through storytelling, poetry prompts, and collective sharing, participants explored how honoring the past can help shape their future.

It was definitely a day they won’t soon forget. 

Seals & Crofts sang “We May Never Pass This Way Again,” during my first, long ago Bowl show — which thankfully didn’t turn out to be at all true, as I now get to enjoy loads of shows at this iconic venue. Events like Kids at the Bowl will certainly spark that same love of live performances for some of these young people. 

Kids at the Bowl is just one of the many community outreach efforts that the Bowl is involved with (and the $1 fee they add to each ticket sold goes toward). For more information, see sbbowl.com/outreach. And their partners at Children’s Creative Project have an awesome 50th anniversary community celebration on Saturday, October 11, at SBCC’s Great Meadow. Click here to learn all about it.