Celebrating Four Decades of the 'Santa Barbara Independent'

Celebrating Four Decades of the
Santa Barbara Independent

**By Indy Staff | August 21, 2026**

We’re throwing parties and sharing memories to celebrate our 40th birthday here at the Santa Barbara Independent, which began with the inaugural Local Heroes issue on November 26, 1986.

On the party front, the big bash is the INDY40 Fest, a free event open to all ages at El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historical Park on Saturday, August 29, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

There will be live music, interactive booths, and tons of journalism-themed fun at the corners of Santa Barbara and East Canon Perdido streets. We’re also hosting a series of panels inside the Presidio chapel, featuring Marianne Partridge, Nick Welsh, Josef Woodard, Tanya Spears Guilliachi, and many more veteran and new Indy voices.

And all around the Presidio neighborhood, our “Pit Stop Partners” will be participating in their own ways:

— The Cheese Shop is hosting a DJ for the first time ever and giving out cheese bites, 2-4 p.m.
— Paloma Cafe is serving a ham & cheese Sando plus mimosa for $20 to anyone who mentions INDY40 Fest, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
— Grassini Family Vineyards is offering 2-for-1 tastings.
— The S.B. Historical Museum will have free admission.
— Loubud Wines created an INDY40 Fest puzzle to solve with winemaker Laura Hughes sabering her sparkling wines at 2 p.m.
— Frequency Wines is serving a special flight of wines all week curated by our own wine expert Matt Kettmann that will benefit the Mickey Flacks Fund for Journalism.
— The Lobero Theatre is offering 20 percent off tickets for that night’s Go to Hale event.
— Other Pit Stop Partners include Lilac Pâtisserie, Paradise Found, and Opal Restaurant.

For a full rundown of the INDY40 Fest schedule see independent.com/indy40fest

As for the memories, we’re publishing an extended series of articles about the history of the Independent, from its origin as a merger of the Santa Barbara News & Review and The Weekly to Nick Welsh’s metamorphosis into the Angry Poodle and a look back at our first issue ever.