Soltopia, the alternative music festival that replaced the infamous Deltopia street party, left Del Playa Drive relatively quiet on Saturday during what would have been the annual unsanctioned festival weekend.

Local law enforcement and emergency medical personnel said they felt a change, too, reporting a significant decrease in enforcement activity during the weekend’s festivities.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown told the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that Saturday’s event was a “good day” and manageable.

While festival activity was centered in The Loop — Isla Vista’s business center — large groups of law enforcement and medical emergency personnel kept an eye on the activity from street corners.

“The weekend’s festivities were a shadow of their former selves in terms of problems and issues — everything from arrests, citations, medical emergencies, all of that way down in numbers,” Brown said.

During the weekend festival, 42 citations were issued and six people were arrested, a 92% decrease in enforcement activity compared with 2025 festivities, according to Cmdr. Joe Schmidt, leader of the weekend’s operation.

Additionally, none of the arrests or citations throughout the weekend were issued in the Soltopia area, according to according to Kelsey Buttitta, county spokeswoman.

Sheriff’s Office records show one Isla Vista man was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail for a noise-ordinance violation on Saturday. He was released later that day.

In 2025, there were 485 citations issued, and 84 people were arrested and booked at the jail, Schmidt said.

“That is remarkable,” he said.

The number of medical service calls also decreased 95% this year, with seven reported calls and two people taken to the hospital, according to Buttitta.

“Of these, six contacts were associated with the permitted event area, with none occurring within the traditional Deltopia footprint,” Buttitta said in a statement.

Brown and Schmidt credited the Board of Supervisors’ unanimous approval of the 72-hour noise ordinance for the April 3-5 weekend with the reduction of enforcement activity.

“The noise ordinance was effective. This was a great partnership between stakeholders in Isla Vista and all of us, with the primary goal of keeping that community safe, and it worked,” Schmidt said.

Additionally, on Saturday, county Fire Department Battalion Chief Craig VanderZwaag reported that the department responded to a call regarding a fire alarm being ripped off and thrown into the ocean.

Instead of partying on the streets and in residences in Isla Vista as in past years, thousands of people attended the music festival, Soltopia, put together by the Isla Vista Community Services District.

“It was really fun and really emblematic of the best of Isla Vista coming together,” county Supervisor Laura Capps said. “It’s a magical place, and that was on full display this weekend.”

The day after Soltopia, the IVCSD also held its annual trash cleanup day throughout town.

Jenna Norton, IVCSD public works and sustainability director, called this year’s trash amount “night and day” compared to previous Deltopia weekends.

More than 40 volunteers collected 93 buckets of trash, amounting to 372 pounds of waste, Norton said.

While volunteers worked through various streets in Isla Vista, including Del Playa Drive, which in past years saw the most litter, most of the cleanup efforts concentrated on Soltopia activity areas.

“There was barely an unusual litter on DP,” Norton said.

Last year, almost double the amount of trash was collected, totaling 792 pounds, she said.

“The amount of trash brought back to the office barely filled two small recycling bins,” she said. “Last year, we had dumpsters full of that type of stuff.”

As Soltopia continues to take Deltopia’s place, she said she hopes to do an analysis of the types of waste accumulated from the event.