This weekend’s Santa Barbara International Orchid Show is one of the largest and oldest orchid shows in the country, with exotic flowers in every imaginable shape, color, pattern, and texture.
Up to 10,000 visitors are expected. But how many orchid plants are there?
“We have 47 displays, with 800 plants in one and 400 in another. If you average 50 orchids for the rest, it’s at least 4,000,” says Show Manager Olivia Sorgman. “Don’t even try counting the individual flowers; that’s in the tens of thousands.”
Now in its 77th year, the show also offers an orchid-inspired juried Fine Art and Photography Show, hourly workshops on orchid care led by experts (some are free, some ticketed), Q&A sessions with “Orchid Doctor” Bruce Kidd, and themed floral arrangements from local club Las Floralias.
Even more orchids are for sale by vendors from Germany, Brazil, Ecuador, Taiwan, other far-flung locations, and those located in Goleta and along the Central Coast. There’s a “plant hotel” to park purchases while enjoying the show.
Sorgman, a Santa Barbara native, has managed the show for two years. She got her start at the Carpinteria Avocado Festival and is now also the festival director for Santa Barbara’s Earth Day and Summer Solstice Celebration.
On Monday, she oversaw the unloading of 240 tons of dirt into the Earl Warren Showgrounds Exhibit Hall.
“We are really only borrowing it,” she joked. “They come back to get it after the show.”
On Tuesday, a noisy front-end loader was busy distributing even more dirt to display areas outlined by concrete bricks. Towering trees, ferns, and other greenery (many donated to the show by local nurseries) awaited placement. Exhibitors with carts of flowers arrived constantly to set up; almost all had questions for Sorgman.
“Everyone is here because they want to create something beautiful,” she said, amid the bustling scene. “And it lasts only one weekend.”
New VIP guided tours of the show, led by American Orchid Society members, sold out almost immediately. More tour times have been added (if still available, reserve on the show’s ticketing page, www.sborchidshow.com/tickets-2025).
Three varied special events offer after-hours experiences among the flowers.
Tickets are still available for the gourmet four-course dinner (with optional wine) prepared by Chef Amy Baer of Epicurean SB. Tickets include admission.
Saturday night’s Orchids After Dark also includes show access, plus a cash bar, rocking DJ, and more.
On Thursday night, participants enjoyed yoga with meditative music and instruction piped into through headsets, followed by a “sound bath” (sans headsets) of harmonic bowls, vocals, and instruments.
Sorgman is particularly enthusiastic about this year’s central display, created by the show’s board of directors, longtime sponsors, and donors.
“We needed a showstopper, and it certainly is,” she said. “Our community came together to make it happen.”
It manifests this year’s theme of “Exotic Garden,” complete with live parrots from the Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary, a wooden casitas on loan from the Cazita Merchant, cascading waterfall with a pump from Aqua-Flo, firepit and benches from Terra Sol Garden Center, and a cedar hot tub from Gordon and Grant (for atmosphere only, no bathing). More than 150 orchids are courtesy of Westerlay Orchids. Chantal Vo of Le Sol Design Studio oversaw the display.
“Even if they don’t have a green thumb, this event is something that everyone can enjoy,” says Sorgman. “Come by for the flowers, but also to meet these people who are so passionate about making things beautiful.”
The Santa Barbara International Orchid Show is held indoors at the Earl Warren Showgrounds, 3400 Calle Real in Santa Barbara, from Friday through Sunday. For times, tickets, and more information, visit www.sborchidshow.com.