The Santa Barbara Bowl is a 4,562-seat amphitheater, located in Santa Barbara, California. The amphitheater is open for concerts from approximately April through approximately October with an average of about 27 concerts per season. Booked exclusively by Goldenvoice in Los Angeles, the Bowl hosts primarily popular music concerts. Since 1991, the Santa Barbara Bowl has been managed by the not-for-profit Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation.
History
In the 1920s, La Primavera pageant used the location of what is now Peabody Stadium.
[1]
In 1924, fiesta week, 'Old Spanish Days,' began.[2]
In 1935,[3] Santa Barbara Bowl was carved into the hillside, a dry creek bed, as a WPA project.[4][5] It was originally built to serve as a venue for the annual pageant of Old Spanish Days — Fiesta.[6][7][8][9][10]
The amphitheater's original stage was a revolving wooden stage, but this was washed out during El Niño rains in 1939. The stage was replaced with a concrete slab that remained in place until renovation work in 2001.
In the 1970s, Sepp Donahower, of Pinnacle Dance Concerts promoted pop music concerts, (Little Feat, Loggins & Messina, Average White Band, Beach Boys, and others).[11]
During Pearl Jam's benefit for the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center on October 28, 2003, Chris Cornell joined the band on-stage, effectively reuniting Temple of the Dog for the first time since 1992.[12][13] Their performance of "Reach Down" as well as their cover of “I Believe in Miracles” by the Ramones from that night later appeared on Pearl Jam's 2003 Ten Club Christmas single.[14]
On Saturday, May 19, 2018, pop star and Santa Barbara native Katy Perry performed a benefit concert at the Bowl as a part of WITNESS: The Tour, calling the show WITNESS: Coming Home. The concert was organized after the local Montecito fire evacuations and mudslide disasters.[16]
The Santa Barbara Bowl has undergone over $42 million in renovations since the establishment of the Foundation in 1991.[18]
Year
Renovation Project
1991
Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors regained control of the Bowl from Old Spanish Days
1992
Renovation and Restoration Master Plan developed by the Foundation
1994
Foundation granted responsibility for the Bowl
Infrastructure Renovations – Power, water and sewer upgraded
1995
Temporary production roof
2000
New storm drain and more efficient drainage systems
Bus Electrical Project
Marquee
2002
The stage and backstage facilities reconstructed increasing the overall usable square footage by +300% (3,000 sq. ft. to 10,000 sq. ft.) (Master Plan Phase 1A)
Upgraded dressing rooms
Enlarged and improved restroom facilities
Food concessions (under the Stage)
2003
Seating Upgrades
Permanent, disabled seating platform (Master Plan Phase 1C)
Floor Section (Master Plan Phase 1C)
Grand Staircase (Master Plan Phase 1C)
2004
The Wendy McCaw Terrace for donor and cultivation receptions (Master Plan Phase 1C)
Beverage Concessions (under the Wendy McCaw Terrace) (Master Plan Phase 1C)
2005
The Canteen – Food service upgrade and Food Carts (Master Plan Phase 1D)
^"History of La Primavera - Old Spanish Days". Fiesta Santa Barbara. Retrieved 23 November 2021. When Samuel Hume came from the Greek Theatre in Berkeley to direct the pageant, he told Santa Barbarans that nature had given them a perfect setting for the performance (near Canon Perdido Street and east of the former Presidio). This location is now the Peabody Stadium of Santa Barbara High School. Then it was a creek bed.
^McHugh, Julia (21 November 2020). "The birth of the Santa Barbara Bowl". Lompoc Record. Retrieved 23 November 2021. Construction of the Santa Barbara County Bowl began in December 1935, thanks to $77,000 in Depression-era WPA funding. Sixty workers toiled in three shifts to ready it for a grand pageant celebrating Old Spanish Days in August 1936.
^"Santa Barbara Bowl Master Plan". Handel Architects. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021. ...Santa Barbara Bowl was constructed in 1936 in the classic American Craftsman style using Works Progress Administration funds. Originally built to serve as the annual performance venue for Santa Barbara's Old Spanish Days' Fiesta...