Hard rains Friday night hardly stopped the throngs of college students intent on making the most out of Halloween weekend parties in Isla Vista.
As early as 6 p.m. cars were blocked bumper-to-bumper on Los Carneros Road as people from all over California tried to enter the college town.
Costu
me-clad students were on the side of the road, drinking and dancing as they waited for the line of cars to move.
“[The situation] just as we expected it would be,” said one Isla Vista Foot Patrol officer, as he arrested an intoxicated girl who had lost most of her costume. “The crowds on Del Playa are uncontrollable.”
Approximately 50,000 people showed up to party the weekend away, with only 98 arrests and 174 citations given by the end of the night.
The length of Del Playa was one swarming mob, culminating in parties at almost every house.
Most foot patrol officers were standing on balconies, observing the crowds.
“They can’t get to anyone,” shouted one partygoer.
Fights that erupted in houses continued without interruption since no one, including the foot patrol, could break through the crowds fast enough to stop them.
The loud music usually associated with large parties was missing, since the city’s noise ordinance was in effect throughout the weekend.
Houses with music that could be heard over 100 feet away were liable to receive citations or landlord notification.
By 12:40 a.m. Sheriff’s deputies had made 45 arrests, and issued 47 tickets. One student survived a fall off a cliff on Del Playa Drive, and was located by a search-and-rescue team.
In the past, students have died after taking an intoxicated plunge off the very same cliffs.
Crowds in the street seemed intoxicated, happy and excited.
But the atmosphere was one of chaos, despite rows of officers on horseback waiting at each of Del Playa’s cross streets.
“This is out of hand,” said Cal State Chico student Vanessa Gutierrez, who made the trek to Isla Vista for the weekend with eight friends. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now.”
A lot of people walking in the streets seemed lost and were asking for directions.
“I’m looking for a party on Sabado,” said Luis Ramirez, a student at Cal State Fullerton. “I’ve been looking for my friends for, like, three hours. But I did make new friends.”
A girl identified only as “Tove,” from San Luis Obispo, said she came to Santa Barbara for Halloween every year.
“S.B. always comes up for Mardi Gras, and we always come up for Halloween,” she said. “It’s our school exchange program.”
While most party-goers seemed to be from out of town, locals tended to stay indoors and spend time at friends’ houses.
“Locals are less likely to get in fights because they are comfortable in their surroundings,” said one man after he broke up a fight between a man dressed as Sponge Bob Square Pants and another in a suited missionary costume.
The crowds were a mix of UCSB students, City College students and out-of-towners, a fact that had officials nervous long before the event.
At a pre-Halloween Town Hall meeting at the Isla Vista Theater on the Thursday before Halloween,
representatives from the UCSB Office of Student Life said that they were concerned with non-UCSB students coming to Isla Vista to party.
“We absolutely consider City College students outsiders if they don’t live in I.V.,” said Cindy Bowers, Director of Student Health. “They simply have no investment in the community.”
But not all people at the meeting had the same opinion.
“City College students are not outsiders as far as Isla Vista is concerned,” said Officer Mark Signa of the Isla Vista Foot Patrol. “It’s just that UCSB has taken the lead in organizing efforts.”
Some locals went out to Del Playa just to take a few pictures or film the crowds.
“I went out to get footage of everyone on D.P.,” said Micah Coy, 21, wearing a shirt that read, ‘I am the reason UCSB hates I.V.’
Coy is one of two Isla Vista residents at the heart of a national porn party controversy that has college officials concerned about the status of Halloween in Isla Vista.
Standing in his kitchen mixing martinis, he greeted people walking in and out of his house filling their keg cups as he showed the night’s footage on his widescreen T.V.
“This was a great night,” he said. “It’s crazy out there.”
The cold weather did nothing to deter the thousands of girls wanting to show themselves off in skimpy costumes.
Several girls on balconies showed the crowd their bare breasts, and more, as hordes of people cheered them on.
By 3 a.m., people still milled around in the streets. Groups of people walking home from parties shouted and laughed in the street as the night turned into morning.
The streets of I.V. were still lively at 8:30 a.m. Some kegs still flowed, and students already discussing the next evening’s festivities.
“I’m squeezing the most fun out of this weekend I can,” said a girl identified as “Taylor” from Chico, as she took a shot of tequila at 10 a.m. “Oh, yeah.”