Steven Libowitz

It was pure serendipity when rock band Doublewide Kings co-founder Palmer Jackson, Jr. , met Brett Strader at a social function in San Francisco just shy of two years ago.

Last month, Sansum Diabetes Research Institute (SDRI) reached a major milestone with its year-long $20 million capital campaign to facilitate the renovation of the nonprofit's current building, breaking ground on the 18,000-square-foot building renovation project. The work is to transform the building, located near Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, into a state-of-the-art diabetes research facility that will enable groundbreaking advancements in diabetes research and care, accelerating life-changing discoveries for millions of people living with all forms of diabetes.

Opera Santa Barbara launches its 2024-25 season with a classic in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci at the Lobero Theatre on November 8 and 10.

Santa Barbara chef and author Pascale Beale is booked for two public events this week to celebrate the launch of her new cookbook, FLAVOUR – Savouring

T im Matheson has been acting since he was a teenager and has a list of credits that runs to many pages, but the onetime Montecito resident (1994-2010, the

If truth be told, UCSB Theater's Annie Torsiglieri probably would have preferred that The Threepenny Opera , which she is directing at UCSB's

Earlier this fall, the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County (LAFSBC) marked its 65th anniversary with an early evening gathering at the Anchor Rose in Santa Barbara Harbor. LAFSBC – which works tirelessly to close the justice gap for low-income residents in the area – took the occasion to make note of its own history.

The world of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival keeps expanding. What started as a tiny weekend film festival 40 years ago – a way to draw tourists to our seaside berg during the winter off-season lull – has exploded into a juggernaut of a festival that boasts more star power than any place outside of the majors. Every year, SBIFF routinely sees Oscar hopefuls by the literal dozens get profiled at the Arlington, a scant month or so before the actual Academy Awards are handed out. Eight years ago, SBIFF bought and refurbished the Riviera Theatre, turning the then-rundown place into a first-class art house emporium, not to mention home for Cinema Society screenings that show Oscar-hopeful movie previews with directors and cast almost always on hand for Q&A sessions.

Although retail shops on State Street may not agree, it's no exaggeration to say the pandemic is squarely behind us, at least in terms of the Lobero Theatre, where a big percentage of pop concerts have drawn capacity audiences this year. Now, as we head into the holiday season, the trend is continuing, with three more shows that are either sold out or well on their way, including the first two powerhouse performances provided by Portlandians, and the other who hails from Eugene, Oregon.

Santa Barbara's three major public high schools' theaters are all buzzing this weekend with their big fall productions. SBHS's