Santa Maria Information: Tickets, Venues, Events and More

The city of Santa Maria is located in the state of California, United States. Santa Maria falls in the County of Santa Barbara and is also the most populous city of the same. As per the 2000 Census, the city's population stood at 77,423. However, the California State Department of Finance has indicated that the population of the city presently stands at 90,333.

Santa Maria is surrounded by the township of Orcutt, the Santa Maria River and agricultural areas to it south, north and east respectively. It is merely 9 miles away from the city of Guadalupe. As per the United States Census Bureau, the city covers a total area of 19.8 square miles, of which 97.77% is land.

Santa Maria is renowned for its ever-growing wine country and the Santa Maria Style barbecue. Along with the neigbouring areas of Lompoc, Los Alamos and Santa Ynez Valleys, the entire area is arguably the nation's largest wine-producing region. This entire region, referred to as Santa Barbara wine country received much spotlight because of the 2004 movie 'Sideways', which was shot here.

Santa Maria is also quite famous for its food. In fact the tri-tip steak has its roots in this city and is therefore, quite often referred to as 'Santa Maria steak'. The now-famous steak is a local specialty of Santa Maria and is served with the side-dishes of linguica sausage, garlic bread, pinquito beans and salad.

Santa Maria is a popular film-shooting location and over the years, a number of films have been shot in this wine-loving city, such as 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End', 'Voodoo Moon', 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest', 'Sideways', 'Hidalgo', 'Rockets Red Glare', 'Rocky & Bullwinkle', 'Cowboy Up', 'Odd Couple II', 'G.I. Jane', 'Amelia Earhart', 'Barton Fink', 'LA Story', 'The Rocketeer' and many others.