The holiday weekend is here, and many people will be exploring the beautiful city of Santa Barbara to celebrate.
Coined as the “unofficial start to summer,” Memorial Day weekend will attract tourists from all over the world.
“It is shaping up to be a great weekend in Santa Barbara, with partly sunny skies and mild temperatures,” Kathy Janega-Dykes, president and CEO of Visit Santa Barbara, told the News-Press Friday. “Between the waterfront, downtown, and into the regions of Summerland, Montecito and Goleta, visitors are sure to have a memorable time along the Santa Barbara South Coast.”
Ms. Janega-Dykes also noted, “Three-day weekends are important to both local businesses and the area’s visitors. Memorial Day weekend is a great time for families to gather and explore together on the water, and throughout our beautiful community.”
This weekend will bring popular events to the city, including the I Madonnari Street Painting Festival, which will have street painters create 130 vibrant, large scale, intricately detailed images on the pavement at the Santa Barbara Mission’s plaza. Guests of all ages can enjoy this free event with food vendors, live music and an authentic Italian market. The festival is taking place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
For people coming from out of town, Ms. Janega-Dykes suggested a few ideas for their stay. “Santa Barbara is extremely walkable, and guests can easily go shopping, wine tasting, dining and explore other diversions on foot.
“Because a few of the area’s hiking trails were damaged during recent storms and those that are open may be crowded, we recommend heading into Goleta to explore trails, such as the UCSB North Campus Open Space, which has 136 acres to explore.”
For travelers who are flying this weekend, Angi Daus, a representative from Santa Barbara Airport, said, “It’s going to look busy, and it actually already does! We expect record-breaking days where over 2,000 passengers will fly out of SBA each day.”
Due to this traffic, be prepared and arrive even earlier than you normally do to the airport. SBA has posted a list of tips at flysba.santabarbaraca.gov/news/airport-tips-summer-travel.
The American Automobile Association reports that there will be around 360,000 travelers using air travel this weekend, an 11% increase from last year.
More people are also expected on the road.
Doug Shupe, a West Coast spokesman for AAA, said it’s estimated 3.3 million people will travel 50 miles or more away from home this weekend, which is a 7.7% increase from last year and nearly half a percent higher than in 2019, before the pandemic began.
Santa Barbara is the third most traveled city in California during the holiday weekend, according to AAA’s booking data.
Mr. Shupe also told the News-Press that if you are figuring out when to travel, today will be the busiest day in Southern California. He suggests leaving either very early or late this morning, or on Saturday.
If you are driving this weekend, Mr. Shupe said, “Inspect your vehicle and make sure your car is ready for the road!”
Gas prices have also seen a spike in prices as the weekend approaches. According to AAA, the average price for self-serve regular gasoline in California is $4.81, which is two cents higher than last week. In Santa Barbara County, the average on Friday was a few cents higher: $4.86 a gallon.
email: abahnsen@newspress.com
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