0 booked, 4 available Glazing
From the waves to the redwoods, it's all happening here.
Live music, festivals, art walks, surf contests, trail days and everything in between.
In-person only, on purpose. Everything here is something you can actually show up to. No screens, no streams.
★ Featured this season
★ Featured
Movie Night Under the Stars: Screening “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
The DSAS Center for Leadership and Involvement and Summer Edge invite you to join us for our Movie Night Under the Stars event screening “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”: Date: Tuesday, July 28th Screening Time: Event entry begins at 7:30 p.m. | Movie starts at 8:00 p.m. Location: Stevenson College Knoll *Bring your own blanket! Limited chairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis.* Free movie snacks will be available! For any questions or accommodations, please email [email protected] . You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities. To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications .
★ Featured
Free Beach BBQ Parties and Concerts
Every Thursday throughout the summer, enjoy a family-friendly party on the beach at no charge! There will be local bands and DJs performing on the outdoor stage, providing music for dancing and socializing. There will be BBQ food and drinks for purchase all in a beachside setting providing stunning views of the ocean and Walton Lighthouse. Parking is limited in the area, so consider enjoying a free water taxi ride from other parking areas! 2026 Lineup: May 21, 2026: Sambada May 28, 2026: Space Heater June 4, 2026: James Durbin & The Lost Boys June 11, 2026: Ancestree June 18, 2026: Jive Machine June 25, 2026: Cake by the Ocean July 2, 2026: Ripatti Rose Band July 9, 2026: Extra Large July 16, 2026: Fishhook July 23, 2026: Harry & The Hitmen July 30, 2026: Matt Masih & The Messengers August 6, 2026: The Houserockers August 13, 2026: The Joint Chiefs August 20, 2026: La Familia August 27, 2026: Alex Lucero Band September 3, 2026: Sambada
Chamber Choir Now Auditioning
Beati Quorum, a new and growing Ensemble, is seeking new local members. Beati Quorum is a small, hybrid professional / volunteer ensemble based in Santa Cruz. We focus on a cappella singing, Renaissance through contemporary works, and collaborations with artists from our local network to international groups. Visit www.beatiquorum.org to set up an audition today.
Kids Class: Te Hau Nui School of Hula and Tahitian Dance
Weekly kids' classes in traditional hula and Tahitian dance, led by Te Hau Nui School at The 418 Project in Santa Cruz.
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Showing 30 of 93 upcoming events · Art & Culture · from 2026-07-28 · to 2026-08-04
WATERCOLOR FOR ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS AND RECOVERING PERFECTIONISTS (4/4)
1 booked, 7 available Maria Ayllon
Santa Cruz Shakespeare's Fences
August Wilson joins the Santa Cruz Shakespeare stage for the first time in 45 years. Fences is the perfect offering, wonderfully in line with the season’s theme: Till Death Do Us Part. Troy Maxson is one of Wilson’s great creations; Shakespearean in scope; a wordsmith and brilliant storyteller. He has survived the terrible trauma of his past and built himself a good life. But the backbone of that life, the spine that keeps it standing strong, is his wife Rose. Like all of Wilson’s best work, Fences is both mythic and intimate; the questions it asks both human and eternal. Fences runs July 28 – August 28. Tickets available for purchase starting May 1. More information at https://santacruzshakespeare.org/tickets/ Seasonal box office hours beginning May 1 are Tuesday through Friday from 12p.m. to 4p.m. Call 831-460-6399.
Audrey Stanley Grove: Live Drama in the Redwoods
Santa Cruz Shakespeare invites you to experience August Wilson’s Fences, under the trees and stars of the Audrey Stanley Grove in Santa Cruz’s DeLaveaga Park this summer. Fences By August Wilson Directed by Susan Dalian August Wilson joins the Santa Cruz Shakespeare stage for the first time in 45 years. Fences is the perfect offering, wonderfully in line with the Santa Cruz Shakespeare season’s theme: Till Death Do Us Part. Troy Maxson is one of Wilson’s great creations; Shakespearean in scope; a wordsmith and brilliant storyteller. He has survived the terrible trauma of his past and built himself a good life. But the backbone of that life, the spine that keeps it standing strong, is his wife Rose. Like all of Wilson’s best work, Fences is both mythic and intimate; the questions it asks both human and eternal. Fences runs July 28 – August 28. Tickets available for purchase starting May 1. More information through the link in the orange button above. Seasonal box office hours beginning May 1 are Tuesday through Friday from 12p.m. to 4p.m. Call the number above.
Kaika Class: Te Hau Nui School of Hula and Tahitian Dance
Weekly hula and Tahitian dance class at The 418 Project. Learn traditional Hawaiian and Polynesian dance in a supportive environment.
A theater production of the musical Dear Evan Hansen.
5 booked, 2 available Kathryn Pierno
0 booked, 7 available
Santa Cruz Shakespeare Family Days
Santa Cruz Shakespeare Family Days Santa Cruz Shakespeare is hosting Family Days with performances of Much Ado About Nothing on July 29 and Aug. 5. Kids age 12 and under are FREE with a paid adult ticket. Gates open at 10am show at noon. Prior to the performance, families can enjoy on-site activities and lunch at the Audrey Stanley Grove at DeLaveaga Park santacruzshakespeare.org/plan/familydays
A free weekly dance jam for babies and their caregivers at The 418 Project in Santa Cruz, with movement, music, and play in a joyful environment.
GARDEN TOTEMS: HANDBUILDING (4/5)
0 booked, 14 available Noelle Lightbourne
Audrey Stanley Grove: Much Ado About Nothing
Santa Cruz Shakespeare invites you to experience Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, un-der the trees and stars of the Audrey Stanley Grove in Santa Cruz’s DeLaveaga Park this summer. Much Ado About Nothing By William Shakespeare Directed by Charles Pasternak One of Shakespeare’s wittiest and most beloved comedies, the 2026 season will open with Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Of all the couples in Shakespeare, perhaps none is more widely loved than Beatrice and Benedick. Their battle of wits; their antagonism turned to eroticism; their history. Before the play begins, they already seem to define each other. The audience, like the other characters in the play, wait with excitement as their wits clash, and eventually, as their love blossoms. Much Ado About Nothing runs July 11 – August 30. More information or to purchase tickets, follow the link in the orange above, or contact the box office Tuesday through Friday from noon to 4pm at the number listed above.
It's time to get those crayons sharpened, paints mixed and markers at the ready for our Summer 2026 Pokémon Art Contest for kids 5-12! To join in, create a picture of your favorite Pokémon 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 Pokémon: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, UCSC’s premier art galleries, for our spring exhibitions. On view April 10–August 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 – 5 pm. Admission is free to the public. Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right Libia Posada’s 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
Every week we will have a new project idea for you to build or explore. Projects will include Science, Arts & Crafts, including model building, and exploration of the environment around us. Children will need an adult present to help them. Expect to get messy!
A regular tango class in Downtown Santa Cruz, offering a way to learn Latin dance in a social, cultural setting.
MUD SLINGING: BEGINNING WHEEL THROWING (1/4)
0 booked, 6 available Chris Finnie
Have you ever had the chance to attend a live puppet show? Join us for a classic retelling of "Jack and the Beanstalk" brought to life by Fratello Marionettes on Wednesday, July 29 at 6:30pm at the Main Library. This program will be presented in English and the intended audience is families. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. ESPAÑOL ¿Alguna vez has tenido la oportunidad de asistir a un espectáculo de marionetas en vivo? Se le invita a una presentación para una versión clásica de "Jack y las Habichuelas Mágicas" que será presentada por Fratello Marionettes el miércoles, 29 de julio a las 6:30pm en la Biblioteca Principal. Este programa se presentará en inglés y la audiencia prevista son las familias. Los asientos estarán disponibles por orden de llegada.
Motion Pacific: Advanced Contemporary Jazz
This is Motion Pacific's Advanced Contemporary Jazz Dance class for adults.
A weekly evening of tango in Santa Cruz, offering a chance to learn, dance, and connect with a new community.
Audrey Stanley Grove: Live Drama in the Redwoods
Santa Cruz Shakespeare invites you to experience August Wilson’s Fences, under the trees and stars of the Audrey Stanley Grove in Santa Cruz’s DeLaveaga Park this summer. Fences By August Wilson Directed by Susan Dalian August Wilson joins the Santa Cruz Shakespeare stage for the first time in 45 years. Fences is the perfect offering, wonderfully in line with the Santa Cruz Shakespeare season’s theme: Till Death Do Us Part. Troy Maxson is one of Wilson’s great creations; Shakespearean in scope; a wordsmith and brilliant storyteller. He has survived the terrible trauma of his past and built himself a good life. But the backbone of that life, the spine that keeps it standing strong, is his wife Rose. Like all of Wilson’s best work, Fences is both mythic and intimate; the questions it asks both human and eternal. Fences runs July 28 – August 28. Tickets available for purchase starting May 1. More information through the link in the orange button above. Seasonal box office hours beginning May 1 are Tuesday through Friday from 12p.m. to 4p.m. Call the number above.
BEGINNING/INTERMEDIATE SEWING (1/6)
1 booked, 8 available Katy Kenyon-Abel
0 booked, 4 available Glazing
Spring Exhibitions at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences
Visit the IAS, UCSC’s premier art galleries, for our spring exhibitions. On view April 10–August 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 – 5 pm. Admission is free to the public. Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right Libia Posada’s 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
Rules Are Not Neutral: Play As Sense-Making, Acts Of Resistance, And Imagining Otherwise
This exhibition brings together a range of analog games – including board, card, role-playing, and other participatory works – that engage social and political realities in different ways. The works span widely circulated commercial games to independently produced projects, one-of-a-kind artworks by artists, faculty, alumni, and students, and materials drawn from UC Santa Cruz Special Collections and Archives. In part, the exhibition challenges the persistent assumption that games and play are detached from social and political life. On the contrary, game designers and artists across diverse perspectives and positions have long used play to engage questions of social systems, lived experience, and how power operates. This exhibition does not attempt to represent that full spectrum. Instead, it brings together a particular set of works that foreground how games can make systems visible, intervene in them, and imagine alternatives. All games embody values, whether intentional or not. – Mary Flanagan , game designer and scholar Across all of these works, games are not only forms of entertainment, though they may be that as well. They are encountered in multiple ways: as objects, as systems, as artworks, and as experiences that unfold unpredictably through interaction. In each case, rules and constraints shape what participants can do. In these different forms, the works stage systems – such as housing and land ownership, capitalism, race and identity, civil rights and protest, fascism, and colonialism – in ways that are simplified and easy to see, opening space to recognize similar structures beyond the game. In this sense, the works suggest that rules are not neutral – they organize experience, distribute power, and produce meaning. Games are the art of agency. – C. Thi Nguyen , philosopher The exhibition is intentionally dense. This abundance reflects the breadth of ways games operate across contexts, from activism and education to art and everyday life. While it cel
Step into the MAH's Archives Reading Room during our weekly Open Archives hours. Meet the archivist, see a unique item from the collection on display, and discover where Santa Cruz history is preserved. Please note: Open Archives is an informal drop-in experience, not a time for in-depth research appointments. If you'd like to schedule research time, please contact us in advance by email or phone. We usually pop open the archives every week-though every now and then we take a break. For more information, email [email protected]
Join us for Yappy Hours in the Kincentricity Garden every last Thursday of the month! Meet the pups that are up for adoption (paperwork to fill out onsite), sip on a few "Barktinis", and enjoy furry-friend festivities like the option for dogs to make their very own paw paintings!
Tech Café: iPad Stop Motion Movies
Learn to create stop-motion movies using iPads at Watsonville Main Library. Part of a weekly Tech Cafe series.
Are you interested in learning about technology? Visit us during our weekly Tech Café program where you have the opportunity to get basic tech-related questions answered and test a new piece of technology. This program will take place on Thursdays from 4:30-6:30pm at the Main Library (unless otherwise indicated). The technology we demo will change each month; here is a list of what technology will be featured: - January (program starts on the 15th): Doodle Pens - February: Makey Makeys (circuit boards) - March: 3D Printer - April: Spheros (programmable robots) - May: Cricut - June: Glowforge - laser cutter (This program will take place at the Freedom Branch) - July: iPad Stop Motion movies - August: Spheros (programmable robots) - September: 3D Printer - October: Doodle Pens - November: Cricut - December: Makey Makeys (circuit boards) Audience: All Ages ¿Le interesa aprender sobre tecnología? Visítanos durante nuestro programa semanal Tech Café, donde tendrás la oportunidad de obtener respuestas a preguntas básicas relacionadas con la tecnología y probar una nueva tecnología. Este programa se llevará a cabo los jueves de 4:30 a 6:30pm en la Biblioteca Principal (a menos que se indique otro horario o lugar). La tecnología que mostraremos cambiará cada mes; las tecnologías que se presentarán: - enero (el programa comienza el día 15): Doodle Pens - febrero: Makey Makeys (placas de circuitos) - marzo: Impresora 3D - abril: Spheros (robots programables) - mayo: Cricut - junio: Glowforge - cortadora láser (este programa se llevará a cabo en la sucursal Freedom) - julio: iPad Stop Motion (películas) - agosto: Spheros (robots programables) - septiembre: Impresora 3D - octubre: Doodle Pens - noviembre: Cricut - diciembre: Makey Makeys (placas de circuitos) Audiencia: Para todas las edades
A weekly Congo dance class in Santa Cruz. Participants learn traditional African dance movements in a group setting at The 418 Project.
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