Festival of Hearts

Friendship Center is hosting its 21st Annual Festival of Hearts on Saturday, February 8, at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.

This festive pre-Valentine’s Day event features an elegant sit-down lunch with local wines and live music by A la Carte, owned by Jan Ingram and Henry Garrett. The theme this year is the Roaring ‘20s, and guests are invited to dress as a jazz-age flapper, dandy, or gangster!

Since the first Festival of Hearts in 2000, the centerpiece of the event has been the exquisite Heart-art sold at silent auction, created by local artists and celebrities, including Jeff Bridges, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tony Askew, and Rod Lathim. Provided with a blank papier-mâché heart, the ever-inventive “Heart-ists” paint, sculpt, and decorate in a multitude of ways to create these unique works.

The live auction, conducted by notable local auctioneer Geoff Green, will feature an in-town getaway with a dinner for six of fresh local lobster and white sea bass at a private home, a sojourn to a Seattle speakeasy, and the Gatsby Glamour Package: a stay at the Rosewood Miramar Beach with added surprises.

Fundraising from this event support Friendship Center’s HEART (Help Elders At Risk Today) Program, subsidizing the cost of adult day services for low-income aging and dependent adults and their families.

Major sponsors include Tom and Nancy Crawford, Casa Dorinda, HUB International Insurance Services, Marborg, Union Bank, SB Home Improvement Center, Cal-Western & Pacific Tree, CenCal Health, Quinn Fiduciary Services, and Rosewood Miramar Beach Resort.

For tickets, $140 each, visit www.friendshipcentersb.org or call 805-969-0859 to purchase by phone with a credit card. Or mail your check to Friendship Center, 89 Eucalyptus Lane, Santa Barbara, CA 93108.