Suns out, buns out. It is springtime and it is time to celebrate the sunshine, flowers, ocean, and most importantly, daying. Speaking of dayging, making Daily Mail last year, on April 8th, UCSB celebrated its annual DelTopia dayge! What is the hype around this day? Starting in 2004, people from all over California and different states travel to Isla Vista to celebrate with the locals.
Deltopia’s reputation is now being claimed as dangerous and imperative to stay away from if you are from out of town. Last year’s article outlines certain safety hazards and injuries that occurred as well as the outrageous population in Isla Vista that day. Deltopia has a tragic reputation from different news sources and schools, but UCSB students have a different take on this UCSB holiday.
“I mean it is a packed day because of the amount of people, but hearing all this crazy s**t like people falling off cliffs and overdosing and stuff is all on them. People need to learn how to be safe.”
Some students believe that the day isn’t crazy, but it’s the people. Essentially, if other people were to be safe, didn’t drink too much, and were safe with drug usage, there would be less people getting hurt. I agree with these statements. The only problem with this is that it is easy to get caught on the bandwagon effect and give into peer pressure especially when already intoxicated. This is when people try something because they see other people trying stuff and want to be like them, for example, drug usage. Some people attending Deltopia think that that is the day to try drugs, but a little tip of advice; Deltopia is not the day to try new things. I’m not saying do or don’t do drugs, but you don’t know if these people and their items are trustworthy or not.
To explain the greatness of travelers Isla Vista received this year, I chatted with someone who visited from Los Angeles, New York, and Australia. You can say that there was a mob mentality and the people hosting parties that day were not happy about it. People were pushing through gates, hopping fences, and breaking barriers to enter these parties.
“As a person who hosted a dayge, I am pissed off. If people could just respect boundaries I would have had way more fun. Also the clean-up process after the overcrowdedness in my backyard was absolutely ridiculous. I can’t even imagine what the streets look like.”
Despite the horror stories, the majority of people who attended 2023’s Deltopia think it was fun in the sun. Whether it be pregaming outside in the sun, dancing to music, getting ready with your friends, it was all worth it for the magical Saturday. Here are some of my favorite quotes from Deltopia attendees that go to UCSB:
“There was a before, there was an after, but there was no during. I promise I had a good time and was safe though…”
“God I love spring. Friends, music, sun, alcohol. What more could you need?”
“Lit, crazy, movie. Need I say more?”
“There were so many people, but I loved it. I met so many people from different places. Maybe even kissed a few.”
To end this recap, let’s discuss some tips to have a successful Deltopia rather than Del-nope-ia:
- Find your drinking limit before the day of
- Stay with your friends
- Do not take random drinks/other drugs from strangers
- Do not walk around Isla Vista with drinks
- Never go on rooftops or any other high surfaces
- Wear sunscreen
- Eat breakfast
- Most importantly, have so much fun!