City of Santa Barbara prepares for annual Fourth of July celebration at West Beach

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The City of Santa Barbara is putting the finishing touches on the annual Fourth of July celebration at West Beach. 

It will kick off at noon on Tuesday.

There will be a full slate of festive, fun, and family-friendly activities throughout the day.

People can also enjoy free live music, with performances by Peer Pressure, The Free Radicals, Drifting Dimension, and more. 

There will be dance performances on the beach, including the Old Spanish Days fiesta performers.

The celebrations will wrap up at night with a bang, a 20-minute firework display will start at around 9 p.m.

On the topic of fireworks, safe and sane fireworks are on sale in select cities in Santa Barbara County, Lompoc, Santa Maria, and Guadalupe. 

They raise funds for non-profits, sports teams, and community groups.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department says what you buy there has to be used in those areas, not brought to another area where fireworks are banned.

“For those cities or those areas where safe and sane fireworks are legal, we recommend people keep them away from structures that they make sure there are no pets in an adjacent facility and that they have a bucket of water and/or a hose standing by so in an event something sparks, catch vegetation,” said Fire Captain Scott Safechuck. 

The fire department’s goal is to keep the community safe. 

Those using illegal fireworks or fireworks bought at the stands and lit in non-approved areas will face the risk of having everything confiscated and getting a citation by police or fire investigators. 

If there's property damage from a fire, the penalties and fines will be significant and likely filed as criminal charges.

As for the annual Fourth of July celebration at west beach, the firework show will be live-streamed on our website. 

For the full schedule, click here.

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