sbrobert
By Robert Bernstein
For too many people “Isla Vista” and “Halloween” strike fear in their hearts. Too bad. When I was a UCSB grad student in the 1980s, Halloween was fun, whimsical and creative. Kind of like Solstice, but at night.
Huge thanks to the Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District for having the vision to recreate that spirit again! They contracted with the Lucidity Festival people and the creative minds of Kym Cochran and Jonathan Smith at The Environment Makers to transform Anisq’Oyo Park into the wonderland of the Isla Vista Haunted Halloween Pumpkin Patch. Here are my photos!
This is also the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District, which was created on Halloween Day 1972! They will have a special celebration on Halloween Day on Monday at 5:30PM.
Our first destination was to see what new tricks our juggling friends were up to. Here Danielle Bushar and Olivia Lilly passed clubs with Matthew Guidry.
Here is my short video of Danielle and Matthew stealing clubs from each other.
Right next to the jugglers, aerialists were performing most artistically.
Here is a sample of what The Environment Makers brought to the event with their trippy water wheel. Kym told me they laid a mile and a half of cables to created this event!
Here Kym kindly posed with us.
Being a Lucidity event, there is a story driving everything. A story of evil developers who want to overdevelop UCSB and the surrounding community, to the detriment of the natural and social environment.
Participants are given a “Passport” when they enter to encourage them to dive deeper into the story. When your passport is fully checked off, you can enter the Pumpkin Patch and meet the Pumpkin Queen. And take home a pumpkin for yourself!
You are also eligible to enter the Costume Contest on Halloween evening and compete for a $1,000 prize.
One of the first Passport stops is to meet Louie D’Ville in the Asphalt Carnival. He wants to be sure you are wasting as many resources as possible. To get his Passport stamp, you need to tell him at least one thing you are doing to help waste resources!
Nearby is Fishbon and Lucidity actor extraordinaire Bryan Snyder of “Bunger Enterprises”. Any resemblance to “Munger” and his “Dormzilla” project we are sure is purely coincidental!
Here Bryan stepped out of character briefly to pose with some participants.
Of course, no such party would be complete without carnival games and prizes. Here my wife Merlie played the Leaping Lizards game under the watchful eye of Solstice creative genius Riccardo Morrison.
Another Passport stop was with The Oracle Krystal who you may recognize from Solstice and Lucidity events. You get to ask her one cosmic question and she will give her cosmic answer. I asked her about the true nature of reality. She assured me that the answer is “Love”.
Meighann Athena Helene and Jonah Gabriel Haas were major creative forces behind this event as well. Here they kindly posed among the Lucidity Forest trees.
The Owl at the Altar was another Passport stop. She will connect you with a departed spirit in your life.
No Lucidity event would be complete without a stilt walker.
And no Halloween event is complete now without a Day of the Dead altar. There were many like this.
It is wonderful to see so many students and other young people having a delightful and creative Halloween celebration!
You still have time to come on over to Isla Vista and see it for yourself! Yes, parking in Isla Vista can be scary! But you can take the bus or ride a bike on over, as we did. Here is the full schedule!
