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The Santa Barbara Fair & Expo midway, pictured at night during a previous year, features many rides, game and food booths and other forms of fun. / Contributed
Haight Ashbury, in all its tie-dyed glory, is the theme of this year’s Santa Barbara Fair & Expo. The birthplace of the hippie movement may not appear to have much in common with carnival rides and livestock, but fair organizers have fully embraced the psychedelic era.
“This is the 50th anniversary of the Earl Warren Showgrounds,” said Showgrounds CEO Scott Grieve. “Our thought was to revisit the times when the Showgrounds was just starting out.”
The “California Hippie Cows,” dressed in cool threads, are sure to be popular. Locally owned poultry, rabbits, goats, sheep, cows and pigs (they had a different meaning in the 1960s) are also on view and in competitions.
The Turtles will perform, not the reptiles, but the pop band known for groovy songs like “Happy Together” and “You Baby.” This benefit for Unity Shoppe starts at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday in the “Haight Ashbury” Arena. Surf music stars The Surfaris will surely play their gnarly hit “Wipe Out” ($30; VIP seating is $50). Thursday night’s Love Generation Dance Party benefiting the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance starts at 6 p.m. Scott Topper will spin outta-sight tunes of the ’60s and ’70s. Tickets cost $10.
At 6 p.m. Friday, a benefit for Talk About Curing Autism will feature children’s music by Lanny Sherwin, followed by a performance by Kodi Lee, an 11-year old musical prodigy who is blind and autistic. Dance band Pinfifteen ends the evening ($15 adults, $10 for children ages 2 to 12; VIP seating costs $25).
From opening to closing, there are nearly nonstop free performances on the Surf’s Up, Woodstock and California Dreamin’ stages.
“We have posters featuring artists that used to play here in the ’60s,” Grieve said. “Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, the Doors — they all played the Showgrounds back then. So replicas of their posters are decorating the stages.”
The Flower Power Hall under Earl Warren’s golden dome is filled with all sorts of displays, entertainment and crafts. There’s also a kids carnival with age-appropriate rides and games, plus a Petting Zoo of barnyard animals.
The Expo offers blue ribbons for handmade foods, wine, beer, horticulture, arts and crafts. Check out informal demos of scrap-booking, wool spinning, rug hooking and other crafts. The cooking contest is always a treat; look for samples.
It wouldn’t be the fair without the midway. This year brings a new carnival company with righteous rides. The Giant Spinning Coaster looks wicked: like a Tilt-a-Whirl meets a 55-foot-high roller coaster.
You might want to dig the rides before digging into the food, ranging from corn dogs and hamburgers to Thai food, pizza, tri-tip, tacos and more. Got a sweet tooth? Choose from cotton candy, funnel cakes, cinnamon rolls, ice cream and more.
Be cool and take a free shuttle from one of the remote parking lots at La Cumbre Junior High, Bishop Diego High School or Sansum Clinic. They aren’t too “far out ...”
IF YOU GO:
WHEN:
From 4 to 9 p.m.:Wednesday, April 23, and Thursday, April 24
From 4 to 10 p.m. Friday, April 25
From 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 26
From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, April 27
COST:
$6 adults, $4 seniors (60+), $3 for children ages 6 to 12, free for children 5 and younger; seniors free from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
www.sbfairandexpo.com; or 687-0766
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