Santa Barbara’s first ever European-style Night Market opens in Paseo Nuevo
The calendar may still say November but we have Christmas on the brain.
Santa Barbara’s first every European-style Night Market has officially taken over the old Macy’s building in Paseo Nuevo.
Local vendors have set up shop as hundreds of people poured into the once shuttered department store, to catch a glimpse of this Christmas wonderland.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and what a difference a year can make.
“After the Thomas Fire and the mudslides happened, I came out of my office, there was nobody on State Street. It was the middle of December last year just before the holiday season and I figured that people were really going to be impacted very badly the retailers, the bars, the restaurants,” explained Glen Broomberg, Night Market Organizer.
Broomberg wanted to create a platform to help local businesses try and recover what was lost last year.
“It’s a real chance for us to celebrate the holiday time that we didn’t have last year we got people all the way from Santa Maria to Ventura, to Ojai, Oxnard, that have come to partake and be vendors with us,” said Broomberg.
Diana Banales jumped at the chance to scratch things off her holiday shopping list from a Ventura vendor.
“The fact that she’s in Santa Barbara, I had to stop by. I think it’s a great opportunity to come out here and look at all these other shops but this one in particular I’ve been waiting for this since I saw it on Instagram,” said Banales.
With Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge and Black Friday sales still going strong, now there’s even more reason to shop local.
“Especially with the way the economy has been, I think we’re really looking at the future of what shopping is supposed to be like,” said Kristina Clark of MidiQueen Handbags.
City officials hope by stimulating our local economy, our Christmas spirit will grow too.
“I’m hoping people get in the spirit and shake off the sadness we’ve had about some of our disasters and come into the New Year with a bright shiny sense of being neighborly,” said Cathy Murillo, Santa Barbara Mayor.
The Night Market runs until December 29th and is open Thursday through Sunday, 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
