Deltopia — the annual unsanctioned street party held each spring in Isla Vista — is anticipated once again this weekend, but with the COVID-19 pandemic still looming, local officials are hoping for lower turnout and preparing a message focused on awareness and safety.
Authorities, including the Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD), UC Santa Barbara, the City of Goleta, and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, have all pitched in to promote a public messaging campaign urging Isla Vista residents to stay local and stay home over the weekend.
"The stakes are so much higher this year because of COVID-19 and the fact that it is spreading in the community," IVCSD President Spencer Brandt told the Independent. "What we've been trying to do as a coordinated group is to get the message out that there is light at the end of the tunnel, but we've got to hold strong for a little bit while longer, and that means that Deltopia can't happen the way that it has in the past."