IVCSD Hosts Alternative Event To “Deltopia” Providing a Fun and Safe Experience

IVCSD Spring Festival Featured Local Bands, Free Tacos from IV Businesses, and Safety Stations

Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) hosted the third IV Food & Music Spring Festival this past Saturday at the Isla Vista Community Center and Little Acorn Park. Over 4,000 Isla Vista residents attended the free festival, which is a safe alternative event to the unsanctioned street party known as Deltopia.

The Spring Festival featured 6 Isla Vista bands and DJs including Orange Pit, DJ Mason and Pedro, Dawn Patrol, ImKennethy, Magnetize, and Eternal Wave. The community participated in voting for the lineup for the Spring Festival. Free tacos from local vendors included Roger’s Tacos, Elubia’s Kitchen, Maria’s Tacos, and Zocalo served from 1pm-6pm. Across the street at the Isla Vista Community Center, public portable restrooms were also available with additional restrooms and water stations deployed across Isla Vista. The District created an interactive map with a QR code for residents to see where all the public restrooms and safety resources could be accessed on Saturday.

On Saturday, the Isla Vista Safety Station, staffed by Student Safety Partners (SSP)s, was available from 12:00pm to 2:00am at Little Acorn Park. The Isla Vista Safety Station provides free services for all residents including safety escorts, water and snacks, sunscreen, cell phone charging, a safe space to rest, and to report emergencies. Alongside the Safety Station, an EMT tent was also on site. The EMT tent served over 50 individuals and, while contracted for the Spring Festival event, they worked in partnership with local EMS providers.

Leading up to Deltopia weekend, IVCSD partnered with Supervisor Capps’ office and UCSB’s Associated Students to host a free Narcan distribution event. Over 50 volunteers knocked on hundreds of doors to distribute Narcan and have conversations with residents about the risks and dangers associated with balcony and patio overcrowding on the bluffs. A Party Safety For All Meeting was also held for residents to learn how to be a good neighbor, ally, and friend during Deltopia. This event was in partnership with Isla Vista Foot Patrol, IVCSD’s Interpersonal Violence Investigator, Life of the Party, Gauchos for Recovery, EVPLA office, and SSPs.

The IVCSD conducted robust community outreach via social media and door-to-door canvassing to every household to spread awareness about health and safety resources available to residents. The District’s outreach campaign also included a door hanger for every household.

“Our location, being only one block from Del Playa, I believe, is crucial to continued success, and the growth of our Spring Festival attendance each year, so I want to be clear in my thankfulness for our partnership with IVRPD to help keep more Isla Vistans safe each year. I also want to thank all of the volunteers for the Adopt-A-Block event on Sunday morning, seeing neighbors clean up after the fun always makes me proud to call this neighborhood home,” shared Marcos Aguilar, IVCSD Board President.

“I want to thank each of the local performers, artists, food vendors, Guardian security team, and our staff for hosting such an amazing event. This makes the vision many of us had in 2014 following the “Deltopia riot” a reality, to create an organized event that promotes public safety by drawing people away from the street and private parties to have fun in a safe environment and provide resources for their health and wellbeing. There was also a concerning number of medical emergencies out in the rest of the community and that is something we will need to continue to work with our partners to reduce,” said Jonathan Abboud, IVCSD General Manager.

“Our Spring Festival is a great example of how we can meet the community where they are at with public safety in mind. We know Deltopia is an unsanctioned event, but we also know our community needs safe spaces to celebrate the incredible talent we have from food vendors to artists. It is vital to combine entertainment with public safety resources so our community knows where they can go when they need help without fear,” said Myah Mashhadialireza, IVCD Community Spaces Program Manager.

“Every community needs celebrations and IVCSD’s Spring Festival had music, artistic fun, dancing, and delicious free food! Lots of thought went into safety, from door-to-door Narcan distribution to strategically staged paramedics to free food and water,” shared Carried Topliffe, IVCSD Board Vice President.

The Isla Vista Community Services District is Isla Vista’s first broad based local government, achieving 47 years of community advocacy for self governance. The IVCSD is empowered to provide eight critical services including public safety, housing mediation, community facilities, parking, graffiti abatement, lighting and sidewalks, and both a municipal advisory council and area planning commission. The Board is composed of five publicly elected directors and two directors appointed by UC Santa Barbara and the County of Santa Barbara.