A member of the large crew of inspectors who were looking for “weapons of mass creation” in the crowds along State Street, UCSB geography Professor Sara Fabrikant participated in Santa Barbara’s whacky, creative Solstice Parade Saturday June 21, 2003. This year’s theme was “silly.”
The annual parade has been running since 1977. It actually started out in 1974 as a May Day celebration for a local artist. But, a few years later, it changed dates to the Saturday nearest solstice and took on a community life. All floats must be hand-powered. There can be no advertising or signs. Individuals and groups, with optional help from local artists, make costumes out of all manner of materials, much of it recycled, in a large building rented for just that purpose a few months in advance of the parade.
