The Senses Block Party “Neon Nights” lit up Old Town Newhall Thursday evening, marking the first event of the 2024 lineup, and 13 years since its inception.
In fact, Senses is celebrating “The Big 100” in August, commemorating 100 events of bringing the community together on Main Street.
The colorful start of the 2024 series saw activities such as a neon Nerf war, LED cornhole, neon virtual reality, neon water pong and face painting.
Adults could enjoy drinks and food from businesses and on-street vendors, all while getting amped up by Pulp Vixen’s electric performance.
“We have some cool, neon-themed decor going on. We have neon golf, we have neon face painting,” said Mike Franke, recreation leader for the city of Santa Clarita. “Senses is a fun event that we get to do because we get to be creative with it. Every year we brainstorm new ideas of what we can do.”
According to Franke, planning can take months on end to ensure that the bands are booked and that the free activities are finalized.
“Tonight is a fun event that you could bring your family to enjoy some live music. It’s a great date night for sure, or even just a family outing,” Franke said.
Joel Beck, who is the event coordinator for the city, contributed to planning Thursday night’s comeback.
“Everybody loves neon … There’s a lot of activities here that we really enjoy. The Nerf war is going to be a really cool thing for us to do,” Beck said. “This event came up because we’ve come up with so many different things, and we try not to recycle.”
According to Beck, if an event is reused, there is an effort in ensuring that there is a twist.
“We only repeat themes occasionally, but we twist them a bit. We did ‘Alice in Wonderland’ three years ago, but then we did ‘Look into the Hourglass,’ so we’ll change it up a little bit,” Beck said.
Casey Miller, former event coordinator for the city, attended Senses for the first time as an attendee.
“Last year I was coordinating the event with my co-coordinators, and this year I get to come as an attendee. I get to meet up with my friends and have some fun, play games, have a drink from the street bar and do a little dancing,” Miller said. “It’s definitely fun. I’ve been looking forward to this all week. It’s a great activity to do after work.”
A Senses regular, Clarke La Vine, enjoyed the colorful atmosphere as the sun set and the luminous environment took precedence.
“We have a group of friends that come to every Senses, and we have dinner and enjoy all the music,” La Vine said. “We look forward to seeing the crowd and whatever the city puts on. It’s always a great time.”
The next Senses event will be on April 18 with the theme, “Saddle Up.”
