Downtown Santa Barbara: Halloween Decor Winners

Source: Downtown Santa Barbara Organization

On a not-so-chilly October evening, members of Downtown Santa Barbara’s Décor Committee judged 19 businesses participating in the annual Halloween Window Décor Contest. With a wealth of horror from which to choose, the committee wrestled to narrow the field down to the top three locations, as well as runner-up awards.

Along with a monetary award for the first three places, each winning location received two tickets to an upcoming performance at The New Vic, courtesy of Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC).

1st Place, The Carnival of Freaks Award goes to Wildcat Lounge (15 W. Ortega),Out-booing the competition, Wildcat staff has created an extensive, carnival themed display filling their entire space with custom-made décor. The creativeness and attention to detail really impressed the judges.

2nd Place, Most Theme-Oriented Award goes to Santa Barbara Public Library (40 E. Anapamu): Library staff presented a thrilling live-action tableau with Pennywise the clown himself scaring the judges. An electrifying entry and a great tribute to the Stephen King classic “IT”.

3rd Place, The Truly Wicked Award goes to The Gift Shoppe Unity (1209 State), for its creative and original window display with lots of hands-on effort. The amount of witches, cauldrons, and crystal balls made this an entry where judges had to take a moment to appreciate all of the spooky details.

Runners-Up, The Sweeney Todd Award goes to The Barber Shop (1233 State), The Tales of The Dark Side Award goes to The Palace Grill (8 E. Cota), Best Display of Curiosities Award goes to Old Town Antiques (33 W. Anapamu), and The Spicy But Sweet Award goes to Hats Unlimited (613 State).

Many businesses decorated in anticipation of Downtown Halloween Trick-or-Treat on Thursday, October 31st (3:00-6:00pm), welcoming hundreds of costumed children with treats, stickers, coupons or other goodies. Children must be in costumes, goodie bag in hand, to haunt more than 60 participating businesses (from Micheltorena to Gutierrez and along the side streets) that display a “Trick-or-Treat HERE” sign and Halloween-y balloons.

The Downtown Santa Barbara Window Display Contest and Downtown Halloween Trick-or-Treat are sponsored by Downtown Santa Barbara and are FREE to the community and participating businesses. For more information, call 962.2098 x800 or visit www.DowntownSB.org.