A Shining Night

Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s latest exhibition celebrates half a century of Summer Solstice, the colorful and creative annual parade on State Street.

The event started in 1974 when mime and artist Michael Gonzales celebrated his birthday with friends on the town’s main thoroughfare.

Fifty years later nearly 100,000 people line the street to experience something akin to the Doo Dah Parade meets Carnaval in Rio meets Santa Barbara.

This year’s parade is on June 22, starting at Santa Barbara and Ortega streets, with the theme Flights of Fancy.

More than 200 fans turned out for the exhibition’s opening night, and were greeted by myriad annual posters, photos by local photographer Nell Campbell who moved to our Eden by the Beach in 1969 and snapped the parade through the ‘70s and ‘90s, and giant colorful figures of a dragon and the sun in the museum’s courtyard and guarding the entrance.

The exhibition runs through June 28.

Pulsing music was provided by the four-piece band the Zydeco Zippers.