A three-week summer theater intensive producing Moana Jr., with more rehearsal time and full production.
From the waves to the redwoods, it's all happening here.
Live music, festivals, art walks, surf contests, trail days and everything in between.
Every listing is something you can actually show up to, from Davenport down to Watsonville.
β Featured this season
Treehouse Dispensary First Friday
Treehouse Dispensary hosts a monthly First Friday event on the first Friday of every month. These events feature live music, local artists, makers, and an art market with up to 20 different vendors, along with shop-wide discounts and community activities. The shop is open 8:00 AM to 9:45 PM daily. We're proud to offer everyday savings for our community: New Members: 10% off your first order Wisdom Discount (65+): 5% off Medical Patients: 10% off Students & Teachers: 20% off with valid ID Veterans: 20% off *Please note that discounts do not stack with other deals. Ask staff for exclusions.
Enthusiastic Bird Watchers @ La Selva Beach
Tuesday, July 21 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm Join us for a bird talk and guided walk in La Selva Beach to spot local birds and enjoy nature together!
The Art of Building a Future (RSSC Discussion Group)
Join us 4th Wednesdays, 6-8pm at SubRosa for The Art of Building a Future - a cafΓ© for discussion and practice for creating the future we want to live in, now! Hosted by @rojavasc1 Bring your thoughts and experience and enjoy some light refreshments. Will be held in the courtyard weather permitting. COVID precautions encouraged. 6pm - 8pm // totally free! // all-ages // dry space // safe(r) space // anti-capitalist space // respect the space and each other! SubRosa is at 703 Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz, CA Also part of the @freeskoolsantacruz 2026 session - more info about other class in bio at @freeskoolsantacruz and @subrosa_space β@@@@@β SubRosa is a collectively run anarchist community space - a place to meet people, share resources and ideas, challenge our assumptions and act on our passions. Letβs create together the world(s) we want to live in now. @subrosa_space And SubRosa is part of the Hub Community Center at 703 Pacific Ave in downtown Santa Cruz - a constellation
β
Featured
43rd Annual Capitola Art & Wine Festival
Stroll the festival with friends and family, sipping exceptional wines from Santa Cruz Mountain wineries while admiring the artistic talents of over 100 fine artists. Sway to live music and be inspired by local dance groups while taking in the ocean breeze and breathtaking view of the Monterey Bay. Feed your cravings with tantalizing cuisine from local food purveyors, and cruise through the Artisans Marketplace for locally handcrafted goods. If that isnβt enough, Capitola Village is filled with restaurants for every taste and charming boutiques to satisfy a shopperβs dream. Art, wine, music, and gourmet cuisine in the enchanting beach-side setting of Capitola Villageβ¦summerβs last hurrah, and truly a weekend in paradise! This event is from 10am to 6pm on Saturday, September 12 and from 10am to 5pm on Sunday, September 13. See link to the event in the orange box above.
β
Featured
The Cruz Room: Hosted Board Game Night
The Game Night Collective provides a curated experience. Every Monday night with a library of 30+ board games, guided game teaching, hosted featured games, and prizes! Whether you arrive alone or with a group, the goal is to make it easy to sit down and start playing. Hosted micβd board games 5 β 8 Trivia 8 β 10
βοΈ Happening today
Tuesday, July 2152 events on today. No plans required, just go.
What's happening
Filter by category, date, or area. Everything listed is in person, county-wide.
Showing 30 of 31 upcoming events Β· Art & Culture Β· from 2026-07-25 Β· to 2026-07-26
Motion Pacific: Adult Beginning Ballet
This is a mixed-level ballet class for adult ballet dancers with Elizebeth Randall Rains.
CLAY INDEPENDENT LAB TIME
0 booked, 4 available Glazing
Join us for an energetic fusion of Australian music, culture, art, science, comedy, character building, and audience participation. The show also includes storytelling and information about didgeridoo history and crafting. https://santacruzpl.libnet.info/event/16206168
Branciforte Library Pop-Up Book Sale
We're offering a wide range of books, from classic novels to contemporary reads. Discover hidden gems and enjoy a cozy atmosphere while making great finds.
Saturday, July 25 2026 10:30am - 12:30pm Enjoy an art walk guided by a local artist and create your own work of art in this intergenerational program!
It's time to get those crayons sharpened, paints mixed and markers at the ready for our Summer 2026 PokΓ©mon Art Contest for kids 5-12! To join in, create a picture of your favorite PokΓ©mon having a fun moment or striking a cool, dynamic pose. Submissions should be on 8.5 x 11 paper. You can use any medium you like, such as paint, marker, crayon, pencil, etc. No digital art. There will be prizes awarded to two age groups, 5-7 and 8-12. Entries accepted June 1st-July 31st. Winners will be announced on August 6th. BONUS: All participants will receive a free PokΓ©mon:Chaos Rising 11x17 mini-poster (while supplies last) when you hand in your art.
Spring Exhibitions at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences
Visit the IAS, UCSCβs premier art galleries, for our spring exhibitions. On view April 10βAugust 16, 2026 are three diverse and interdisciplinary shows: Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right , the first US solo exhibition by the Colombia-based artist and medical doctor; Gina Athena Ulysse: A Redwoods Rasanblaj , a site-specific and immersive exploration of the Haitian kreyol conception of rasanblaj; and Ronaldo V. Wilson: There Are No Words, But Melodies , a mixed-media exhibition emerging at the intersections of Black poetics, performance, and visual art. The IAS Galleries are open Wednesday-Sunday, 12 pm β 5 pm. Admission is free to the public. Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right Libia Posadaβs first solo exhibition in the United States features installations, sculptures, and drawings meticulously constructed from surgical instruments, gauze bandages, crutches, used books, and domestic picture frames. The new and existing works in the exhibition powerfully stitch together the personal, social, and political disorders and afflictions that currently trouble the world, from the wars that resonate across the globe to the violences of aging in US prisons. Gina Athena Ulysse: A Redwoods Rasanblaj: Origins & Disentanglements The internationally-lauded work of humanities professor Gina Athena Ulysse is on view as a premier Faculty Spotlight Exhibition. The site-specific installation, produced in community from things collected, found, purchased and donated, centers on the Haitian concept of rasanblaj, a form of assembly and collage that transcends the formal use of materials to draw together people, spirits, and ideas. Ronaldo V. Wilson: There Are No Words, But Melodies Collage is both a material practice and a structural interrogation in the Faculty Spotlight Exhibition artworks by literature professor Ronaldo V. Wilson. In video, painting, and installation, layers and folds conceal and reveal, delving into the experience, both bodily and emotive, of living in time
Role-playing Games at the Library
Watsonville Public Library and the Santa Cruz County Roleplayin g Games Group invite anyone in the community interested in tabletop role-p laying games (TTRPGs) to come and learn how to play multiple role-playing games. Several games will be presented at the same session at different ta bles. The focus for this session is for people to experience the ga mes without the commitment of lots of sessions or money spent. Everything needed to play will be provided, and all skill levels are welcome! Audience: Adults. https://www.watsonville.gov/calendar.aspx?EID=7416
Enjoy summer weekend afternoons at the beautiful Nicholson Vineyards! Saturdays from noon to 5pm β Enjoy perusing art from local artists Sundays from 1pm to 4pm β Enjoy listening to local musicians Pack a picnic spread, gather your friends and family, and sip on their refreshing summer wine flight, featuring the best of our warm-weather selections. Book your reservation today! July 11 & 12: The Clay Chalet and music by Dos Bros July 18 & 19: Indigo and Vine and music by Jo Coleman July 25 & 26: Sour Sammy Sourdough and music by Six String Mixtape August 1 & 2: Scout and Sea and music by Half Pass August 8 & 9: Lili Arnold Studios and music by Eden Edell August 15 & 16: Desert Moon Design and music by Kip Allert August 22 & 23: Papelline Jewelry and music by Zach Bailey August 29 & 30: Anna Gail Designs and music by Jeff Smith September 5 & 6: All You Knead and music by Cake Party!
Get your hands dirty with award-winning artist Suzanne McCourt. Suzanne will be hands-on to help create a mixed media canvas 12 x 12β along with a small practice canvas. Explore color theory collage on canvas which include spray paint stencils, layering paper, painting with acrylic, collages and getting as creative as possible! Unravel the mysteries of color theory and have a great time. Be sure to bring your apron or paint t-shirt. Youβll also receive 15% off Annieglass first-quality pieces on the day of the event. Sparkling waters provided. Half bottles & bottles of wine available for purchase.
Make your own beautiful set of four glass coasters with Smithsonian artist, Annie Morhauser. Everything you need will be providedβglass, stencils, colorful glass enamels, adhesive feet, and expert guidance throughout the process. Youβll design and decorate 4β³ glass squares, then load them into the kilns (donβt worryβtheyβll be off!). Annieglass will fire your pieces for you, and you can have them shipped to your home. Want a full set of eight? Book two workshops! Youβll also receive 15% off Annieglass first-quality pieces on the day of the event. Sparkling waters provided. Half bottles & bottles of wine available for purchase.
Color Theory Collage Workshop w/Suzanne McCourt
Dive into colors and creativity with Suzanne McCourt as you craft your own unique collage masterpiece!
Join us for an energetic fusion of Australian music, culture, art, science, comedy, character building, and audience participation. The show also includes storytelling and information about didgeridoo history and crafting. https://santacruzpl.libnet.info/event/16224944
Join us for an energetic fusion of Australian music, culture, art, science, comedy, character building, and audience participation. The show also includes storytelling and information about didgeridoo history and crafting. https://santacruzpl.libnet.info/event/16224944
Daniel reads from his powerful book of poetry, SIX is for 6enocide. Copies of the book are available for purchase and signing. Light refreshments will be provided. Registration is recommended. Join us as Daniel Reyes reads from his book SIX is for 6enocide, which is dedicated to the Alaydi family in Gaza, Palestine. Local Palestinian poet Howla Jardali will read a poem and introduce Daniel. Professor Stephen Zunes, Program Director of USF's Middle Eastern Studies Program will be present to answer any questions about the history and politics of the region. Registration required. https://santacruzpl.libnet.info/event/16418611
Saturday, July 25 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm Daniel reads from his powerful book of poetry, SIX is for 6enocide. Copies of the book are available for purchase and signing. Light refreshments will be provided. Registration is recommended.
A staged production of the acclaimed musical Dear Evan Hansen, presented at All About Theatre in Santa Cruz.
A story written by Capitolaβs very own, Joe Ortiz, comes to life at The SC Actors Theatre. Escaping Queens follows an immigrant family as they navigate the challenges of poverty and a fatherβs problems with gambling, alcohol, and women. This funny, edgy, ultimately hopeful musical paints a cast of colorful characters, from neighborhood bookies to a doo wop group to all the shades and personalities in a mixed Italian and Puerto Rican family. Based on Oritzβs own memoir, PastinaβMy Fatherβs Misfortune, My Motherβs Good Soup, the emotional turbulence of navigating an escape from New York is presented as a compelling and sophisticated story that asks if children are fated to repeat their parentsβ mistakes. -Shelly Novo; Good Times Santa Cruz
Macbeth, presented by Santa Cruz Shakespeare
Something wicked this way comes, indeed. Starting this weekend and running through August 30th, Santa Cruz Shakespeare presents one of The Bardβs most infamous plays, Macbeth. Coincidentally the playβs first ever performance is believed to have been in 1606 marking this as the 420th anniversary, which is very Santa Cruz. And for anyone familiar with Macbeth, itβs easy to see why itβs lasted throughout the ages. Witches, murder, moral failings and tons of tragedy are beautifully sewn throughout the acts, stitched together with lines such as βBlood will have blood,β and βthe wine of life is drawn.β -Mat Weir; Good Times Santa Cruz
A three-week summer theater intensive producing Moana Jr., with more rehearsal time and full production.
CLAY INDEPENDENT LAB TIME
0 booked, 4 available Glazing
July is Parks and Recreation Month | Community Mosaic Making
A community mosaic-making activity celebrating Parks and Recreation Month. Create art together in a park.
Spring Exhibitions at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences
Visit the IAS, UCSCβs premier art galleries, for our spring exhibitions. On view April 10βAugust 16, 2026 are three diverse and interdisciplinary shows: Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right , the first US solo exhibition by the Colombia-based artist and medical doctor; Gina Athena Ulysse: A Redwoods Rasanblaj , a site-specific and immersive exploration of the Haitian kreyol conception of rasanblaj; and Ronaldo V. Wilson: There Are No Words, But Melodies , a mixed-media exhibition emerging at the intersections of Black poetics, performance, and visual art. The IAS Galleries are open Wednesday-Sunday, 12 pm β 5 pm. Admission is free to the public. Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right Libia Posadaβs first solo exhibition in the United States features installations, sculptures, and drawings meticulously constructed from surgical instruments, gauze bandages, crutches, used books, and domestic picture frames. The new and existing works in the exhibition powerfully stitch together the personal, social, and political disorders and afflictions that currently trouble the world, from the wars that resonate across the globe to the violences of aging in US prisons. Gina Athena Ulysse: A Redwoods Rasanblaj: Origins & Disentanglements The internationally-lauded work of humanities professor Gina Athena Ulysse is on view as a premier Faculty Spotlight Exhibition. The site-specific installation, produced in community from things collected, found, purchased and donated, centers on the Haitian concept of rasanblaj, a form of assembly and collage that transcends the formal use of materials to draw together people, spirits, and ideas. Ronaldo V. Wilson: There Are No Words, But Melodies Collage is both a material practice and a structural interrogation in the Faculty Spotlight Exhibition artworks by literature professor Ronaldo V. Wilson. In video, painting, and installation, layers and folds conceal and reveal, delving into the experience, both bodily and emotive, of living in time
Enjoy summer weekend afternoons at the beautiful Nicholson Vineyards! Saturdays from noon to 5pm β Enjoy perusing art from local artists Sundays from 1pm to 4pm β Enjoy listening to local musicians Pack a picnic spread, gather your friends and family, and sip on their refreshing summer wine flight, featuring the best of our warm-weather selections. Book your reservation today! July 11 & 12: The Clay Chalet and music by Dos Bros July 18 & 19: Indigo and Vine and music by Jo Coleman July 25 & 26: Sour Sammy Sourdough and music by Six String Mixtape August 1 & 2: Scout and Sea and music by Half Pass August 8 & 9: Lili Arnold Studios and music by Eden Edell August 15 & 16: Desert Moon Design and music by Kip Allert August 22 & 23: Papelline Jewelry and music by Zach Bailey August 29 & 30: Anna Gail Designs and music by Jeff Smith September 5 & 6: All You Knead and music by Cake Party!
Rite Life - A Writing Group Amongst the Dead
This monthly series of writing workshops in Evergreen Cemetery is facilitated by local poet Gabriel Kittle-Cervine. Rite Life is a workshop that blends the act of automatic writing, with our individual practices of ancestor veneration, to confront that which haunts us, and to celebrate that which allows us to live. The workshop was born in 2016 from the vision of a profound poet and spiritual teacher named Honeysun, just a couple of years before she passed beyond this life. Her initial concept for the Rite Life workshop is preserved in the way it's practiced today; still facilitated by Gabe, her friend and pupil, alongside a bright circle of local writers and practitioners of craft. Learn more at www.blankmetafour.com or follow @unclegabe831 on Instagram. All ages welcome, and we'll be there rain or shine-see y'all in the cemetery!
Macbeth, presented by Santa Cruz Shakespeare
Something wicked this way comes, indeed. Starting this weekend and running through August 30th, Santa Cruz Shakespeare presents one of The Bardβs most infamous plays, Macbeth. Coincidentally the playβs first ever performance is believed to have been in 1606 marking this as the 420th anniversary, which is very Santa Cruz. And for anyone familiar with Macbeth, itβs easy to see why itβs lasted throughout the ages. Witches, murder, moral failings and tons of tragedy are beautifully sewn throughout the acts, stitched together with lines such as βBlood will have blood,β and βthe wine of life is drawn.β -Mat Weir; Good Times Santa Cruz
Sunday, July 26 2026 1:00pm - 2:15pm Learn how to create your own anime character from scratch from former Simpson's artist, Carlos Nieto III, in a fun and easy step-by-step process. No experience necessary!
Jurrasic Jungle Book β A Three Hour Tour
Little Peopleβs Repertory Theatre Presents Jurassic Jungle Book: A Three-Hour Tour Little Peopleβs Repertory Theatre (LPRT) presents Jurassic Jungle Book: A Three-Hour Tour, an original rock musical by Jannine Chadwick, Directed by Daria Elise Troxell, Musical Direction Gabe House. During a sightseeing boat tour, seven passengers become castaways when their boat is shipwrecked on a tropical jungle island. The island is sparsely populated by talking jungle animals, Village People, Mowgli (a boy raised by wolves), Huntriz, three singing dino-hunters, four ninja turtles, and Indominus Khan, a tiger who became a mutant after a sinister group of βscientistsβ came to βstudyβ the island, with the hidden motive of transforming the island into a prehistoric theme park. This sweet and silly mash-up features more than twenty musical numbers. The cast includes children ages 7β14 singing and dancing to parodies of contemporary pop songs and classic rock hits. Itβs alternative childrenβs musical theatre like no other! Shows regularly sell out, so reserve your tickets early. Ticket information and show times are available online at lprt.org. Performances will be held at Park Hall in Ben Lomond from July 15 through July 25. Please visit the website for specific show times.
A story written by Capitolaβs very own, Joe Ortiz, comes to life at The SC Actors Theatre. Escaping Queens follows an immigrant family as they navigate the challenges of poverty and a fatherβs problems with gambling, alcohol, and women. This funny, edgy, ultimately hopeful musical paints a cast of colorful characters, from neighborhood bookies to a doo wop group to all the shades and personalities in a mixed Italian and Puerto Rican family. Based on Oritzβs own memoir, PastinaβMy Fatherβs Misfortune, My Motherβs Good Soup, the emotional turbulence of navigating an escape from New York is presented as a compelling and sophisticated story that asks if children are fated to repeat their parentsβ mistakes. -Shelly Novo; Good Times Santa Cruz
1 more event further out
Hosting something rad?
If it's happening in person anywhere in Santa Cruz County, whether it's a show, a market, a paddle-out, or a gallery night, we want it on the calendar. Submissions are free and reviewed by our editors.
Submit your event β