Santa Clarita organizes an ‘out of this world’ block party

Santa Clarita Valley residents experienced zero-gravity and visited other galaxies as part of the Senses Block Party in Old Town Newhall Thursday night. 

The city of Santa Clarita hosted its Senses Block Party with the theme being outer space. City organizers brought live music, food trucks, and themed activities for its September installment of the event.  

“I love bringing the community together,” said Joel Beck, of Newhall and an event coordinator. “This is the main reason why I do this because I like to see the interaction with our community. It’s a good way to meet new people and it’s just good to get out.” 

Attendees enjoyed drinks and a variety of food from food trucks and Old Town Newhall establishments. People danced the night away with futuristic robots and explored the stars above with lessons from the Local Group Astronomy Club. 

Also, attendees could join an intergalactic battle by learning the art of saber combat from the Light Force Academy — an organization that utilizes methods and techniques of weapon combat from several disciplines to teach students and allow them to compete in an official tournament using LED stunt sabers. 

“We do put a good amount of effort into these events, and they are original events,” Beck said. “We tried to do different things every single month.” 

Paul Woolard, of Stevenson Ranch, attended the event with his wife to meet some friends. Woolard said this was the first time they attended the block party. 

“The food, music, and people [are great]. We had a lot of fun tonight, and our dog is also having fun meeting all kinds of other dogs,” Woolard said.  

Carly Alvizo, 10, and her sister very much enjoyed the block party. Alvizo loves space, she said, and got to experience zero-gravity while riding the gyroscope.  

“I went on what the astronauts go through for training and it’s really fun,” Alvizo said.