It started in 2004 with some UCSB students who organized Floatopia, which is a local social event on the beach near the California university, where people come together to party and float down the beach. The first few years the event was quite mellow, but in 2008 things started to gain momentum with more people attending and 2009 was even bigger. The 2009 event was so popular with roughly 12,000 people, that there was a rally to have Floatopia 2, but there were a number of circumstances that caused the event not to occur. Santa Barbara County officials were worried about this massive event set to take place this week, as they feel it is a safety issue because so many people descended upon this small beach. (more…)