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Solstice:
Faces

Joan Melendez, a long time Solstice Artist in Resident, mask maker and face painter. Photo by Fritz Olenberger (2019).

For the last 46 years, The Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Celebration has filled the streets of the city´s downtown with a parade of colorful floats, giant puppets, whimsical costumes, and music troupes to welcome the longest day in the calendar. Attracting 100,000 visitors and engaging 800 participants, the festival is the largest art event in Santa Barbara County. This year, due Covid-19, it will be held entirely online with a virtual parade and events scheduled for solstice day, June 20, 2020.

The AD&A Museum is pleased to partner with the event´s organizers in the presentation of Faces, a selection of photographs by participants in the parade that highlight the collective spirit behind it. Echoing the Summer Solstice´s joyful energy, these photos are a modest yet eloquent sampling of the festival´s diversity and ethos. They also pay homage to some of the celebration´s most devoted instigators and pros.