The Colorful City of Lompoc

By Yuko Takii

Have you ever heard of Lompoc? Some students might have, but most of us don’t know it. Lompoc is the city located 50 miles northwest of Santa Barbara. The name of the city is originally from a Chumash word “Lum Poc”, which means “little lake or lagoon”. It is known for an annual Flower Festival, Vendenberg Air Force Base, and a lot of murals. Especially, Flower Festival is popular in the United States. Now, let’s check out the Flower Festival and the murals.

Flower Fields
When you drive through Lompoc in the summer, you will be able to see many kinds of flowers in the valley. There are Sweet Peas, Marigolds, Sunflowers, Larkspur, and so on. One of the most well known events is its annual Flower Festival. This festival is held in June every year. There are a parade and food booths. Not only residents but also visitors can take part in the parade if they want.

By the way, have you heard about The 2002 Floral Flag? It was a flag made entirely of flowers in 2002 to commemorate the 9-11 attacks. Everyone still remembers it clearly… Bodger Seed Company planned the 2002 Flower Flag as a “tribute” to the tragedy. The flag was composed of 400,000 red, white, and blue larkspurs. A lot of magazines and newspapers featured this flag.

Murals

In addition to being known for its Flower festival, Lompoc’s mural is also famous. 40 to 50 murals are scattered in Lompoc. Some are part of mural project, and others are by business owners. They sometimes give a wall to an artist or give a “mural in a day”. The murals are still increasing. They make the city colorful and lively. You can click here and see some of them. If you want to see them directly, I advise you get a map from the website, The Chamber.

Lompoc is not so far from Santa Barbara, so you won’t spend too much time going there by car. If you don’t have a car, don’t worry. There is a bus, the CLEAN AIR EXPRESS, from Goleta to Lompoc. That is why it’s easy to go there!!

In addition, the 55th annual Flower Festival will take place on this summer from June 20 to 24, 2007. Many people visit Lompoc to see the beautiful flowers, so I recommend you go to festival if you have enough time.

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