Orchids, one of Earth’s most beloved flowering plants, make a stunning reappearance at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in this year’s 75th annual Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. This spectacular showcase of flowers, a long-running tradition in Santa Barbara, was put on hold during the pandemic restrictions of large gatherings and is finally back in all of its beautiful glory after three years.
With the theme: “Orchids — The Adventure Returns,” this year’s exhibits will be in full bloom March 10-12 at Earl Warren Showgrounds.
The show offers gorgeous art installations, a wide variety of vendors and exhibitors, and numerous opportunities to learn more about these extraordinary plants. “The exhibit hall is just awesome,” says Lauris Rose, the Santa Barbara International Orchid Society president (who also co-owns Cal-Orchid, Inc. here in town). “The vendors are very diverse; they come from around the world — they’re not weekend warriors.” The benefit here being that show-goers can have questions about orchid cultivation answered by knowledgeable professionals.