New ‘Skyway Nights’ outdoor weekly entertainment event coming to Santa Maria, Orcutt border

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – A brand new weekly outdoor entertainment event called "Skyway Nights" is coming to Santa Maria and Orcutt border at a site located along the busy intersection of Highway 135 and Skyway Drive.

Skyway Nights will be held each Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. starting June 13 through October 31.

The site of the event will be in a parking lot between the Skyway Center and the new mixed-use Element Apartments that are just beginning to occupy.

"The Vernon Group asked us to come in," said creator Ed Carcarey. "They've built the areas behind us, the Element Apartments, but also the Skyway Center that has a bunch of restaurants and the new Collective that's in there, so this is this was custom made to put an event here to support these areas and those areas to support the event."

Skyway Nights is being organized by Carcarey, who also created the popular Downtown Friday's event in Santa Maria, which is now in its eighth year.

The new event will be similar in some ways to Downtown Fridays, but will have an entirely different look and feel.

"It's another event to help bring the community together, to give our community something to build upon," said Carcarey. "We'll have live music here. There'll be a live band every single night. We'll have karaoke contests, DJ Ewrek will run the stage. There will be contests from this stage, including Halloween. We're going to have a costume contest. The Chido Bar will have a beer garden set up. Wine and Design will be inside the beer garden. You can come in as long as you're 21 or above, have a beer or cocktail, watch the music and and do free painting classes. We'll have vendors that will be out here, and we've got seven of the best food trucks in the Central Coast area that will be coming out."

Carcarey said Skyway Nights is specifically intended for those who are age 20-to-40-years-old, but the event will also be set up so it's enjoyable for people of all ages.

"My 30-year-old son always tells me that there's nothing to do in the city," said Carcarey. "(He's) traveling to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, so we put something together that would fit that age demographic, that 20-to-40 years old, something to keep them here in the city and give them something fun to do that's really set up for them. The music will be their interest. The food trucks have been handpicked for their interest. The vendors that will be coming, the beer, everything is built around that age group to do something intimate in this parking lot, to have some fun."

Some of the weekly attractions will include live music, beer garden, karaoke, food trucks, a live DJ, vendors, contests, adult games, and more.

For more information about Skyway Nights, click here.