Community Calendar

Peek behind-the-scenes of our chocolate factory to get a high-level overview of the chocolate-making process, from bean to bar! This event is great for families, corporate groups, bachelorette weekends, and anyone new to chocolate or curious about where their food comes from. You’ll get to taste warm, flowing dark chocolate from our tempering machine, and you’ll get to sample our single origin 75% dark chocolate bars.

Santa Monica Playhouse is excited to present the 19th anniversary production of its modern Halloween classic, Oct 4 – 26 only. It’s the delectable Family Theatre Halloween musical for Kids 2 to 102 – the heartwarming Rudie-DeCarlo tale of the aptly-named Candy, a sweet young girl who learns some surprising lessons about life, love, laughter, and sugar, from a delightful array of characters who take her on a magical All Hallow’s Eve adventure. And you, the audience, help Cattypuss, Patty Patches, Lester the Jester and Fifika the French Fortune Teller save Halloween for one more year.

Helmed by Playhouse Artistic Director Chris DeCarlo, with book, music & lyrics by DeCarlo, Evelyn Rudie & Matthew Wrather, the ingenious costumes are created by award-winning designer Ashley Hayes, with production and multi-media design by James Cooper and The Attic Room. ABSOLUTELY HALLOWEEN features internationally acclaimed Actors’ Repertory Theatre members Celeste Akiki, Isabel Lindley, J.T. Melaragno, Cydne Moore, Joseph Perez, Charlotte Robinson, Graham Silbert and Megan Wright. Birthday parties, hosted by gaily-costumed members of the ABSOLUTELY HALLOWEEN Company, are available in conjunction with every performance. It’s Around Town’s “Favorite Pick!” It’ll be yours, too! Saturdays, 2pm, Sundays 12:30, October 4-26 only.

Renowned Western artist Joe Milazzo’s intricate pen-and-ink and charcoal drawings will be on display at the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum beginning October 11. The title of the show is “Blessed: The Western Way of Life." Milazzo’s drawings depict ranch life, historical figures, and sweeping landscapes. His subjects range from cowboys and horses to iconic Western scenes. Milazzo’s artwork has been showcased in prestigious locations, including the Ronald Reagan Center in Santa Barbara. The October 11 opening reception with the artist is from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The museum will be open to the public on Sunday, October 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with Milazzo in attendance. A limited number of Milazzo’s works will be on sale. For tickets to the opening reception, go to www.santaynezmuseum.org/joe-milazzo-art-exhibition-sale.

Me, Myself, and Other is a sharp, funny, and unexpectedly moving solo performance about identity, disability, and the messy middle between who you were told to be and who you actually are.

A first-gen American grappling with the feeling of being “othered” throughout her life is forced to confront and embrace her true identity after a life-altering diagnosis. Humorous, heartfelt, and unflinchingly honest, this show takes one on a timely and poignant journey through cultural contradictions, societal expectations, and the resilience it takes to rewrite your own narrative.

Have you ever prayed that Jesus would come back as a stand-up comedian? Well, your prayers have been answered. The second coming is no longer coming. It’s here and it’s called STAND-UP JESUS!

Heaven help us?
Hell, yeah!

Come bear witness to a truth that hurts and a truth that’s funny with STAND-UP JESUS! Thy kingdom come, thy will be done; and it will be done with divine satire. In Robert Dubac’s latest solo show, our lord and savior is back and this time he’s no longer a carpenter. He’s a stand-up comedian hell-bent on preaching what God created on the 8th day. Comedy.

Who better to battle modern-day hypocrisy than STAND-UP JESUS! Shining the light of truth on false prophets, duplicitous politicians and immoral sheeple, J.C.’s razor-sharp satire has been intelligently designed to redeem sinners of all faiths. So let he who is without sin cast the first heckle!

Yes! STAND-UP JESUS is irreverent, sacrilegious and, above all, hysterical! Atheists and believers both praise STAND-UP JESUS as, “A miracle! It succeeds at being heaven and hell, enlightening and offensive; all at the same time!”

“Razor-sharp, whip-smart, irresistible satire!” PBS Chicago

Robert Dubac (author, actor) belongs to a rare breed of humorists who make comedy smart and tragedy funny. Eschewing drama in the pursuit of humor he deftly combines stand-up with theater, pulling our emotional strings with intelligence and wit. In other words, you get more truth and less dick jokes. He constantly tours the world with all three of his solo shows, sometimes all at once, as a self-contained one-man repertory company.

Admission includes post-show wine and wafers (the vanilla and chocolate kind) reception with the artist

You can’t stop the beat! 🎶

The smash-hit musical Hairspray is coming to Thousand Oaks this fall — packed with show-stopping numbers, laugh-out-loud moments, and a heart as big as its hair!

Join us October 10–26 at the Scherr Forum Theatre, Bank of America Performing Arts Center, Thousand Oaks.

🎟 Reserve your seats today at 5StarTheatricals.com

October 1- 31 - Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Santa Barbara!

For the second year in a row, businesses across the region will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Santa Barbara.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience—rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @veganchefchallengeWest.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our region's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC

Join us in making Santa Barbara an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community.

For details on participating businesses, menus, sponsorship opportunities, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/SantaBarbara.

This exhibition showcases historic Broadway posters from collector Richard C. Norton, a comprehensive selection of musical theater posters 1972 to the present ranging from the famous to the obscure, from the celebrated to the damned. These posters offer insight into the evolution of American musical theater, graphic design, marketing, image branding and audience engagement. Far more than advertisements, they reflect the artistic, social and commercial contexts of their time—revealing how productions were first introduced, how stars were celebrated, and how visual trends paralleled theatrical innovation. As ephemeral objects, their preservation provides rare evidence of the material culture surrounding performance. By examining these posters through an academic lens, we can better understand Broadway’s influence on American theater, music and popular culture. The exhibition invites viewers to explore how theater has been represented and remembered, and how visual media contributes to the construction of cultural memory.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a lecture featuring Nicholas van Hoogstraten, author of Broadway Poster Art: 1945–1969 (Schiffer Publishing, 2024).

About the Richard C. Norton Musical Theater History Collection:
The Richard C. Norton Musical Theater History Collection consists of materials documenting musical theater including 25,000 playbills, 800 typescripts, and 1,500 published libretti, as well as sheet music and 78rpm records. Norton is the author of A Chronology of American Musical Theater (Oxford UP, 2002) a landmark work with details on thousands of Broadway productions. The collection was assembled to support the research for his book.

UCSB Library presents an art installation by artist Elena Yu, exploring histories of the Ethnic and Gender Studies Collection (EGSC) and space in celebration of its 30th anniversary.

In Fall 2023, Yu was invited to create artworks in response to the history of the EGSC. The artist was drawn to two untouched back rooms - former staff offices left exactly as they were when vacated in 2022. Inside, decades of belongings sat frozen in time. In February 2024, the Library was preparing to renovate the rooms. Librarians had sorted and removed items to be sent to the University Archives and gave Yu access to use the remaining materials in her artworks. She was inspired by encountering ephemera related to the history of Ethnic Studies at UCSB and the day-to-day occupations of the library staff, including file cabinets full of book dust jackets and printed correspondences, and bulletin boards whose contents speak to the specific interests of former staff, who were charged with the upkeep of the collections and space.

This exhibition is part of a campus-wide arts partnership with the UCSB Arts Equity Commons (AEC) to support opportunities for engagement of faculty, students, and staff through the presence and practices of contemporary artists. AEC was established in 2022 as a consortium of the Department of Art, Department of History of Art and Architecture, and the Art Design & Architecture Museum through a systemwide grant from the UC Office of the President. The artist would like to thank Gary Colmenar, Angel Diaz, Alyce Harris, Sara Kelly, Marisol Ramos, Jonathan Rissmeyer, and Kim Yasuda for their support of this project.

This self-guided, three-day tour offers an extraordinary opportunity to experience a wide range of original artwork—including painting, sculpture, fiber art, mosaic, collage, jewelry, glass, prints, and mixed media—in the unique and often surprising environments where the art is created. The weekend kicks off with a free public reception on Friday, October 10, from 5–7 PM at the Ojai Valley Museum. Guests can meet the artists, view a special preview exhibit featuring work by all participating tour artists, and pick up tour brochures and maps.