Derrick Dunten had never seen anything like it.

On a hill high above Santa Barbara, a couple hundred people danced to Katy Perry’s music and other pop songs as glow lights beamed through the crowd.

Picture a teenage rave party, except this crowd was full of families and children — popping bubbles of all sizes, and in some cases getting splashed and wet in the face with the suds.

Unadulterated joy.

“That was something else,” Dunten said. “I have never had a crowd that large. It was amazing.”

That picture of wholesome fun happened only out of desperation and no thanks to the City of Santa Barbara.

Dunten, better known around town as the SB Bubble Guy, was booted from Shoreline Park. The free show originally had been scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving.

However, Scrooge and the Grinch came early, in the form of unidentified Shoreline Drive residents, who got the show shut down before it happened.

Dunten had built buzz about his Glow Show on Instagram, but his popularity caught the eye of the city of Santa Barbara. Neighbors had previously speculated that his bubble solution at his free daytime shows on the weekends could be harming the grass or wildlife.

The city checked it out and determined that the solution was not harmful.

However, the city decided that Dunten couldn’t have his free Glow Show at Shoreline Park because it happens after dark, and the park closes 30 minutes after sunset.

It got worse. The city said he would need a permit going forward for his daytime shows. If he promotes them — through social media, business cards, flyers or other advertisements — he would need a permit, city officials said.

“It would be inappropriate for our department or any individual within it to decide that we are not going to tell him the same thing we tell everyone else who wants to host a public event: There is a permit process,” said Jazmin LeBlanc, Parks & Recreation’s assistant director.

Dunten quickly turned to Instagram when he was told he couldn’t do the show.

“You will unfortunately see less of our joyful bubbles when we need them the most,” Dunten wrote in an IG post. “If anyone has options for locations not needing permits, please let me know. We need more bubbles than ever right now.”

His plea worked. The underground buzz was unstoppable.

Kyle Richardson, a Mesa dad with two kids, called Elings Park and helped get Dunten hooked up with the nonprofit organization for the shows. It took three days.

Dunten held the event on the soccer field, and more people attended than had ever gone to one of his daytime Shoreline Park shows.

Among them was Conrad Metzenberg, who took his two young kids to the Elings Park show.

“I’m not surprised that someone in Santa Barbara complained,” Metzenberg said. “There are people in this town so privileged and so high up on Maslow’s hierarchy that the sound of children playing is actually a problem for them.

“We’re also familiar with the city of Santa Barbara kowtowing to such perpetual malcontents.”

He said the city “runs this place like a giant homeowners association, and acts as if they are impotent to change the rules.”

“Our parks are for the enjoyment of our citizens, from ukulele groups, yoga classes, even crunchy hippie drum circles and definitely kids playing above all else,” Metzenberg said.

LeBlanc from the city said after-hours events at Shoreline are simply not allowed.

“The Glow Show also includes amplified music — again, something with an impact to the immediate neighborhood,” LeBlanc said.

For his daytime shows, he will need a permit, she said, because there are public safety and resource impacts.

“What happens if a few hundred people unexpectedly show up to something when adequate resources such as restrooms, parking, police and fire services, and trash collection have not been accounted for?” LeBlanc said.

She said the Bubble Guy can be hired to perform at private events held in city parks, such as a birthday party, without requiring a permit. 

Dunten said he plans to continue his free Glow Shows at Elings Park. He said it was the perfect location, and they moved swiftly to accommodate him.

As for his regular bubble shows during the daytime, which he has been doing for about six years, he said he is trying to work with the city on a resolution.

A weekly permit is cost-prohibitive, and it’s a matter of principle at this point, he said.
He is allowed to show up and perform as a practice exhibition, but he is not allowed to advertise his events without a permit.

City Councilman Mike Jordan said he hopes the two sides come to a compromise.

“It’s unfortunate that we live in a world where a couple of complaints and the need to insulate our public places from those who would abuse the privilege of these places lead to such an overreaction to something so inherently fun and appealing,” Jordan said.

Dunten said the city’s shutdown of his show has led to new friends and allies. Lawyers have introduced themselves to him offering to represent him.

Many private people have expressed their support. Last Friday night at Elings Park was unforgettable.

“It was spectacular to see that many people there for bubbles,” he said.