Search results for

MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, presents an action-packed evening inspired by popular video game franchises at the annual Family Party entitled “Game On.”

This after-hours event features hands-on, themed activities led by MOXI staff and community partners that connect the skills used in video games with physics, observation, creativity, and the natural world.

Food, drinks, and adult beverages will be for sale, and a nonstop dance party led by DJ Spencer will take place on the rooftop. Costumes are encouraged.

Many of the museum’s exhibits will be adapted to relate to recognizable video game universes; one focused on block-building and mining, another inhabited by battling pocket monsters, and one with high-speed racing and a familiar overall-wearing, mustachioed hero.

The Lyceum Oaks Youth Orchestra presents their Spring Gala Concert at the Kavli Theater: the culmination of a rich season of music and art. LOYO is home to the most talented and accomplished young musicians of our region who have grown and studied together throughout this academic year. All 6 of CVYO’s ensembles perform the great masterworks of music literature with young musicians from grade school to pre-college levels. The first portion of the Gala includes a wonderful selection of music for children performed by Youth Strings, Youth Band, and the Flore Ensemble, including in a live-animation performance of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” and music from “Pirates of the Caribbean.” After intermission, LOYO Virtuosi perform Mozart’s 39th Symphony conductorless, and Rachmaninoff’s monumental 1st Symphony. The concert is an immersive experience for young music fans and distinguished art patrons alike. The concert features a live to animation performance of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf", and an instrument "petting zoo" where guests can try out the different instruments of the orchestra.

Salute to Scouting 2026
Scouting America – Los Padres Council will honor Central Coast leaders Bill MacFadyen, founder and publisher of Noozhawk.com, and the Borgatello Family of MarBorg Industries at the annual Salute to Scouting celebration on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, at the Santa Barbara Club in Santa Barbara.
MacFadyen will receive the National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (NOESA), while the Borgatello Family will be presented with the Los Padres Council Legacy Award for their longstanding leadership, philanthropy, and community service across the Central Coast.
The annual evening event brings together business, civic, and community leaders to celebrate leadership and support youth development programs serving more than 3,000 young people throughout Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Proceeds benefit Scouting programs, leadership development initiatives, and outdoor education opportunities, including Camp Rancho Alegre’s Outdoor School.
To RSVP for the event, call 805-967-0105, email carlos.cortez@scouting.org, or visit https://scoutingevent.com/053-116001

Dreamland Band celebrates the music of legendary songwriter Joni Mitchell, featuring the powerful and expressive vocals of Kimberly Ford. The group beautifully recreates the spirit and artistry of Mitchell’s iconic songs. Their performances offer a heartfelt tribute to one of music’s most influential voices.

Healthcare for Homeless Animals is celebrating 30 years of helping shelter animals with a special anniversary fundraiser on Sunday, September 27, 2026, at Westlake Yacht Club.

This heartfelt brunch event will bring together animal lovers, volunteers, veterinary partners, shelter staff, donors, sponsors, local businesses, and community supporters. Guests will enjoy brunch, welcome drinks, coffee, tea, soft drinks, special gifts, raffles, silent auction prizes, animal success stories, and meaningful moments celebrating three decades of saving lives.

Proceeds help Healthcare for Homeless Animals fund medical care for shelter animals at Agoura Animal Care Center, including exams, diagnostics, x-rays, surgeries, medications, dental care, senior wellness care, foster recovery, rehabilitation, and other essential treatment.

Tickets and event information: www.healthcareforhomelessanimals.org/events
Sponsorship & Donations: www.healthcareforhomelessanimals.org/sponsorship-2026

"Yellow Feminist Visibility: On Nellie Wong's Socialist Feminist Poetics"

Join us for a virtual lecture by the 2025 Kenneth Karmiole Research Fellow, Dr. Joseph Wei, who drew on primary source materials from the Library's California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives (CEMA) to advance his scholarship on Asian American socialist feminist poetry and literary organizing.

Drawing on archival research from UCSB's California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives, this presentation examines the work of the late Asian American socialist feminist poet Nellie Wong (1934–2026). Looking at Wong's correspondences and drafts of essays and poems, Wei takes up her work as a model for organizing "yellow feminist visibility" in the 1980s — that is, performances of Asian American socialist feminist commitment amidst the conservative backlash against radical race movements of the 1960s. These performances of visibility were important because Wong and her compatriots conceived of Asian American feminists and lesbians as a vanguard class, whose daily work and organizing activities contained the seeds for social transformation.

About the Speaker
Dr. Joseph Wei is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Georgia. A scholar of Asian American literature and literary communities, his research spans Asian American poetry and poetics, literature and sociology, and critical refugee studies. He is currently completing his first book, Asian American Literary Organizing, 1970s to the Present, which investigates the role of Asian American literary organizations — from Kearny Street Workshop to Kundiman — in realizing and sustaining models of literary production outside mainstream literary institutions.

This event may be photographed or recorded.

Image Description: Dr. Joseph Wei with short dark hair, black glasses, blue button up, and a navy sweater vest.

The Simi Valley Family YMCA, in partnership with PoolCorp, is hosting A Splash of Joy, June 20 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Simi Valley Family YMCA (3200 Cochran Street). In this free community event, families can participate in water activities and swim challenges, and learn important water safety skills.

There will be gifts from PoolCorp, water class information, and food and refreshments.

The event will also highlight the YMCA’s Safety Around Water (SAW) program, which offers free water-safety lessons to all third-grade students in the Simi Valley Unified School District (SVUSD).

Registration is required. For questions or to sign up, contact simiaquatics@sevymca.org or call 805-583-5338.

Date & Time: Saturday, July 4, 2026, at 5:00 PM

Location: Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens

1100 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Cost: Free

Celebrate Independence Day and America's 250th Anniversary with a free, family-friendly outdoor concert at the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens. This year, the PrimeTime Band presents “Sounds of America," a musical retrospective featuring classic tunes from pop, rock, musicals, and movies—including hits from The Beach Boys, The Incredibles, and "Over the Rainbow."
The performance features a special guest appearance by vocalist Anikka Abbott. Attendees are invited to bring a lawn chair or a blanket to enjoy this traditional community celebration.
Guests may set out low-back chairs and blankets anytime after 12:00 PM on the day of the event. Non-synthetic blankets are preferred to help protect the lawn.

For more information, please contact media@pcvf.org

Settle into an intimate evening of masterful songwriting and storytelling that lingers long after the last note. Audiences can expect to feel deeply connected—laughing, reflecting, and walking away with that rare sense of having witnessed something both personal and timeless.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Dana Cooper brings over five decades of music-making and 30+ albums to the stage, including his latest release, The Ghost of Tucumcari—voted #1 Album of 2024 on Americana Highways’ Readers Poll. The record features an all-star lineup including Lyle Lovett, Hayes Carll, Susan Gibson, and more. Cooper’s career began on Elektra Records alongside legendary studio players later known as The Immediate Family (including Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar), and has included collaborations with artists like Kim Carnes and Kim Richey.

Known for his fluid guitar work—blending flatpicking, fingerstyle, and percussive strumming—alongside expressive harmonica and a voice described as “angelic,” Cooper delivers performances that are as technically stunning as they are emotionally resonant. As American Songwriter notes, few artists sustain this level of passion and creativity across a 50-year career.

Joining him is Brad Colerick, a standout voice in the Americana scene and a Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk winner. Known for his warm baritone, sharp wit, and heartfelt songwriting, Colerick’s songs strike a perfect balance between humor and poignancy, earning comparisons to greats of the genre while maintaining a voice entirely his own.

Together these two seasoned performers create an evening that feels like a conversation - rich with stories, musicianship, and the kind of authenticity that reminds you why live music matters.

It’s FREE BRICKS, a brutally honest “sketch” that highlights the tale of our main character "Bricks," an emotionally exhausted and burdened individual on a quest for self-acknowledgement and purpose. As she unravels her own personal hurdles, she decides to join the rest of the population of the Black women who are disappearing due to their Ancestors rescuing them off the planet.

Poet, Performer, Author, Astrologer, Hampton University Alum & Renaissance woman Sonja Marie has blazed a trail some may say, a little before her time. Emerging onto the scene with her song, “And I Gave My Love to You” off the “Waiting to Exhale” soundtrack, she began touring with her band, adding a special blend of poetry, vocal styling and contagious Funk jazz. She has collaborated with such artists as Teena Marie, Cody ChesnuTT and Organized Noise. Her passion to write became the catalyst to create two musical albums – The Black Album: Vol. 1 and Nativity Screams – featured in five poetic anthologies, complete two novels – “The Signs: An Astrological Memoir” and “Squirrel”. Her artistic scope expands onto the stage with her first Solo Show- “FREE BRICKS.”

Director R. Ernie Silva is a product of the Bushwick projects in Brooklyn New York. His creative career started at the age of 12 and his musical side came calling while sleeping on odd couches, random nights at hostels and homeless shelters, and a few nights riding freight trains around the country. “Heavy Like the Weight of a Flame” is a one man show Ernie has co-written with novelist James Gabriel.

FREE BRICKS continues the Santa Monica Playhouse Black History [every] Month project, a year-long celebration of works that highlight the rich heritage of Black arts, artists and culture.

Santa Monica Playhouse programs are supported in part by generous grants from the We Are Santa Monica Fund, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission and Playhouse PALS.

FREE BRICKS plays Saturday, June 20 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, June 21 at 3:00 pm.