Civil servants warn against danger to Deltopia not authorized spring party

At the end of the spring holidays, officials are preparing to return from Deltopia – the unauthorized street festival of the County of Santa Barbara, where thousands of students flood Isla Vista for a noisy weekend of rejoicings which generally ends in chaos and arrests.

Deltopia’s dangers are multiple and include steep coastal cliffs, drug overdoses, excessive alcohol consumption and epidemics of violence, according to a warning issued by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff. In 2023, a junior UC Santa Barbara died of a fentanyl overdose in Deltopia, and in 2013, a student from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo degraded a cliff at his death.

Now, the Sheriff’s office warns against a new risk at the next festival this weekend: tickets targeting students.

Local orders do not allow entry fees during the events of the Deltopia footprint, and the sheriff’s office says it intends to close the parties that violate this rule.

But to worsen things, the ministry has also identified several lists of fraudulent online events, where the crooks announce false parts at the home of without distrust residents. The sheriff’s office says it is working to find managers of false events and will monitor the locations announced throughout the weekend.

In another effort to dissuade poor behavior, the ministry will suspect, throughout the festivities, a diversion program which makes it possible to reject certain quotes by following a class and by completing a community service. This means that all the quotes issued this weekend will be discussed through the legal process, and the violations suffered will be on the permanent files of the students.

Last year, the organizations responsible for the application of laws issued 256 quotes and proceeded to 32 arrests during Deltopia. It was an increase in the 151 quotes published in 2023, when 23 people were arrested, and an even larger leap compared to 2022, when 34 were cited and four arrested.

In 2024, officials closed 13 illegal parts on roofs and bluffs due to violations of noise prescriptions and because the tickets were charged, according to reports from the Santa Barbara independent. There were also two reports of sexual assault and a dui arrest made after a driver hit the car in front of him when he was online at a sobriety checkpoint, the newspaper reported.

No fatal overdose was reported in 2024, which marked a year after the death of Jude Quirinale, 21.

Quirinal died after taking a fentanyl lace -up pill during a Deltopia party, according to a GoFundme post from his family. He was revived by emergency services and taken to the hospital, where he was on the plan of life for a few days before being withdrawn from the support, according to the post.

As the notorious weekend approaches, the officials recall the revelers of the law of the Bon Samaritan de California, who exempts anyone asking for help for a person overdose of punishment for possession of drugs or under influence.

“This law was created to encourage passers-by to help in the emergency room and is one of the most powerful tools in the community during the Deltopia weekend,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

As an additional security precaution, the Isla Vista beaches will be closed from 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Monday, the County of Santa Barbara announced.

The county said that the closure aims to prevent a reappearance of “destructive and dangerous conditions” which result from Floatopia fiasco of 2009, where more than 12,000 revelers have invaded the beach and left behind lots of massive waste.