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Santa Barbara County’s supervisors unanimously approved a 72-hour festival ban for the first weekend of UCSB’s spring quarter, known as Deltopia weekend. The ordinance would effectively cancel the annual unsanctioned street party but would permit a sanctioned event through a government organization, like the Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD).
At Tuesday’s meeting, Isla Vista Foot Patrol Lieutenant Joe Schmidt told the Board of Supervisors that Deltopia was a danger to the community.
Schmidt, alongside EMS Agency Director Vince Pierucci and County Fire Division Chief Patrick Byde, presented data on past Deltopias to illustrate its risks and drain on resources. Pierucci said that on March 8, 2025, the county’s emergency medical services received two medical calls (Pierucci said this was an average Saturday). On the Saturday of Deltopia 2025, he said they received 60 times that. Meanwhile, Schmidt said that since 2023, Deltopia has cost County Fire and the Sheriff’s Office more than $465,000 in overtime costs.
Several students attended the supervisors’ meeting, held in downtown Santa Barbara. None who spoke supported the ordinance, and many brought up that they did not think the ordinance would effectively stop the partying, or make it safer but push students to party underground.
“Deltopia began as Floatopia, an unsanctioned beach festival. An ordinance ended it. And what was the result? Students created Deltopia,” EJ Raad, the external vice president for UCSB’s Associated Students, said.
Raad said that student organizers have fought to reduce the safety concerns and fiscal cost of Deltopia, including with a student-run community safety group handing out Narcan, which reverses opioid overdoses, and attempts to hire ENTs from Ventura to service the event. He said the associated students have also pledged a financial commitment of $140,000 to the event.
Myah Mashhadialireza, IVCSD’s community programs and engagement director, said she has researched and collected feedback from the community on Deltopia and ran the alternative event that the community services district puts on for the past three years. She said the county should actively work with the community to solve the problem.
“Currently, we have a community without the proper infrastructure needed for the influx of people that we see,” she said. “The proper infrastructure needed is an organized event, an allocation of resources and entertainment.”
Supervisor Laura Capps said Isla Vista and the county need to move toward a sanctioned event, because of safety. This is the first reading of the amended ordinance. The supervisors will vote on its second and final reading on its administrative agenda on January 27.
