City of Santa Barbara - Visitors - Things to Do - Waterfront Activities

2008 Santa Barbara Harbor & Seafood Festival
Benefits Page Youth Center

Date: Saturday, October 11, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Location: Santa Barbara Harbor (Get Directions)
Admission: Free
Phone: (805) 897-1962

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT: for the 2008 Harbor & Seafood Festival will be featured throughout the day on two stages: Main Stage and Waterfront Center Stage. Over the last six years, tens of thousands of visitors have kicked off their shoes and enjoyed listening to many top entertainers playing rock, jazz, blues and more.
Entertainment Schedule:
TBA

See our HBSF Photo Gallery

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL: When it comes to fresh seafood, you can’t get it any fresher than right off the boat. On October 11, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Santa Barbara Harbor & Seafood Festival lures seafood lovers of all ages to Santa Barbara’s thriving Harbor for one of the community’s most beloved and flavorful events. Timed to celebrate the opening of commercial lobster season (September 27th), the annual benefit for the Page Youth Center showcases a plethora of delectable regional seafood specialties, in addition to cooking demonstrations, interactive maritime education, unique children’s activities, boat rides, live music and much more. Since 2002, the annual Harbor and Seafood Festival has become Santa Barbara’s signature autumn event. It brings people together for a day full of fun and good memories.
#1 group photo collage from 2006 Harbor & Seafood Festival. #2 group photo collage from 2006 Harbor & Seafood Festival featuring the Double Dolphin, Harbor Patrol and NOAA reasearch vessel.

The Santa Barbara Channel is one of the nation’s richest sources of bountiful, sustainable and high-quality seafood — from lobster, ridgeback shrimp, rock crab, white sea bass, California halibut, yellowtail, salmon, swordfish, thresher shark, and rockfish to such delicacies as Santa Barbara spot prawns, sea urchin, and sea cucumber. Santa Barbara Harbor’s 100+ local fishermen catch between six and ten million pounds of seafood annually, which, considering its positive effect on related businesses, equates to a $35-$40 million industry. Meet the fishermen face-to-face at the Special Seafood Orders Booth, where festival-goers who have selected fresh-caught lobster, crab, prawns, sea bass, and more right off the boat have it cooked to order on the spot. Other specialty food booths include an Albacore Barbecue, a Fresh Crab Boil (thousands of pounds are served during the one-day event!), Brophy Brother’s legendary clam chowder, and the Endless Summer Bar-Café’s refreshing shrimp cocktail.

Check the Event Flyer and Event Map

#3 group photo collage from 2006 Harbor & Seafood Festival featuring Page Youth Center and Crab & Albacore Booth participants. #4 group photo collage from 2006 Harbor & Seafood Festival featuring children's activities.
Look for Seafood Cooking Demonstrations at Chuck’s Waterfront Grill. Head out to sea with free boat rides aboard the Double Dolphin. Enjoy free introductory sailing lessons by Santa Barbara Sailing Center or take Lil’ Toot Water Taxi Rides to Stearns Wharf and back. Expand your maritime education with docent-led Santa Barbara Maritime Museum Tours, Deep Sea Diving Demonstrations, an Urchin Harvesting Information Booth.* Self-guided Fish-Walk Tours features interpretive plaques detailing the nature and history of the harbor’s commercial fishing industry. Participating Agencies on the City Pier, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary & National Park will be on hand with informational booths and displays. Special children’s activities include a Trivia Treasure Map/Hunt, Plankton Tows, kid’s craft booths and assorted athletic activities. Festival-goers will enjoy continuous live music, 35+ arts and crafts vendors, and a raffle.

#5 group photo collage from 2006 Harbor & Seafood Festival featuring live entertainment, crafts and visitors. #6 group photo collage from 2006 Harbor & Seafood Festival featuring a whole lot of smiling faces. Save the date for the 2007 festival on Saturday, October 13th.

See our Limited Edition Poster by local artist Janice Blair

At the 2007 Santa Barbara Harbor and Seafood Festival, local artist Janice Blair signed limited edition prints. Her image of "Santa Barbara's commercial fishing fleet in the morning glow" is serene and represented Santa Barbara Harbor's beauty. Printed and donated by Haagen Printing, only 200 prints were offered, signed and numbered--these treasured posters are no longer available. We are happy to announce that Ms. Blair has been commissioned to create the 2008 poster. Bookmark this webpage to take a sneak-peek at the 2008 Harbor & Seafood Festival Poster as we get closer to the event.

The Santa Barbara Harbor & Seafood Festival is presented by the City of Santa Barbara Waterfront Department, Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara, Inc., Santa Barbara Harbor Merchants’ Association, and the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. All proceeds benefit the Page Youth Center.

ABOUT PAGE: The Page Youth Center (PYC) is strongly committed to the development of the youth of our community and today provides year round programs and facility servicing over 3,000 youth. Page Center programs have grown over the years to become a year-round family experience. As demand for youth activities has grown PYC must look to community support and fundraising events like the Harbor Festival to supplement its budget to provide the quality programs. Upcoming fundraising events include an annual year end campaign and a Gala fundraiser planned for March 08. Thanks to the Waterfront Dept and all the community for supporting the Harbor Festival and our Youth...

For information on becoming a Harbor & Seafood Festival vendor,
please contact Page Youth Center Director Bob Yost at (805) 967-8778.
For more festival details, contact Brian Slagle at (805) 897-1962