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Showing 30 of 135 upcoming events · Free · from 2026-08-10 · to 2026-08-17
📍 Natural Bridges State Beach
🕒 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM · FREE
Little Rangers programs at Natural Bridges State Beach are happening this summer! This free program is best for 3 to 6-year-old kids and includes hands-on activities, play-acting and sharing. Parents or caregivers are required to stay and encouraged to help facilitate the fun and games. Themes this summer include insects, beach exploring, bird watching and nature art. Parking is $10 and helps Friends support the park. One reservation per family and please write in the names and ages of participating children.
📍 Santa Cruz Public Libraries
🕒 11:30 AM · See listing
Monday, August 10 2026 10:30am - 12:00pm Join us Mondays 10:30am-12pm at Aptos Library for social Bridge! All skill levels welcome. Enjoy fun, friendship, and mental stimulation.
📍 Santa Cruz Public Libraries
🕒 11:30 AM · See listing
Monday, August 10 2026 10:30am - 12:30pm Play Mahjong with fellow enthusiasts! Beginners welcome with weekly Hong Kong Style lessons. Other styles offered too. Tiles provided or bring your own.
📍 California Coffee
🕒 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM · FREE
Join us Wednesday, May 21st from 12:00 PM- 1:00 PM at California Coffee for an informative and uplifting workshop you won't want tfor suo miss! Our featured guest speaker, Manas S. Kshirsagar, AD, MS a NAMA Board Certified Ayurvedic Doctor with years of experience in holistic wellness and healing, will be presenting "Tools for Stress and Anxiety". With today's fast-paced world and the stress levels many of us are unduring, this workshop will offer valuable insight, practical tools and wellness strategies to help bring more balance, peace and calm into our daily lives. Lunch Special Available: Half Sandwich + Chips just $9.99 California Coffee, 9105 Soquel Dr., Aptos, CA 95003 cacoffeeaptos.com Thank you from myself Sylvia Reyes, and my amazing team for supporting our small business and community events!
📍 Santa Cruz Public Libraries
🕒 1:00 PM · See listing
Monday, August 10 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm Join us every 2nd Monday at the Garfield Park Branch for a yarn party.
📍 Santa Cruz Public Libraries
🕒 2:00 PM · See listing
Monday, August 10 2026 1:00pm - 3:00pm Are you stuck with a technology question? You can make a free appointment with a tech savvy library staff member!
📍 Ugly Mug CoffeeHouse, 4640 Soquel Dr, Soquel, CA 95073, United States
🕒 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM · FREE
It's Monday Open Mic at the Ugly Mug! Sign ups at 5p Beer, Espresso Drinks and Desserts available
📍 The Cruz Room
🕒 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM · FREE
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 mic’d board games 5 – 8 Trivia 8 – 10
📍 The Diversity Center of Santa Cruz County, 1117 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
🕒 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM · FREE
Queer & Trans Yoga by Sapphire Yoga Collective Weekly Yoga Class @ TDC Mondays from 6:00 PM -7:15 PM This is a trauma-sensitive, all-levels, all-bodies/abilities class taught by a rotating queer-identifying yoga teacher each week. We highlight self nurturance through yoga asana and meditation, a somatic and mindfulness healing practice that resources us for our own resilience as well as community care. No prior yoga experience necessary. Ultimately, this is a brave space for LGBTQIA++ identifying folks to gather and take deep care. Please bring your our yoga mat and water bottle. Cost: $10-20 suggested donation. No one turned away for lack of funds! @sapphireyogacollective and @yogaforallmovement Questions? Contact Tara Maxon, Well-being Coordinator email: tara.maxon @diversitycenter.org
📍 UC Santa Cruz
🕒 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM · See listing
Learning to be Community-Minded How do children learn to be part of a community, attentive to what’s going on around them and pitching in to help out? Barbara Rogoff builds on her 50+ years researching and participating with a Mayan community in Guatemala to make the case that people everywhere can learn from Indigenous cultural values of relationality and responsibility, which are commonly enacted in everyday family and community life. An important practice in many Indigenous-heritage communities of the Americas is including children collaboratively in the endeavors of family and community life even in the youngest years. In the process, young children often collaborate skillfully and help without being asked, developing community-mindedness through their shared contributions. Barbara Rogoff is UCSC Foundation Distinguished Professor of Psychology at UCSC. She investigates cultural aspects of children’s learning and how communities arrange for learning, finding especially sophisticated collaboration, attention, and community-mindedness among children from some Mexican and Indigenous communities of the Americas. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education, and a Fellow of professional organizations in psychology, anthropology, and education. She has received Distinguished Lifetime Contributions Awards from international research organizations as well as the Chemers Award for Outstanding Research, from UCSC. She has held the University of California Presidential Chair and Fellowships of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Kellogg Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and the Exploratorium, and served as Editor of Human Development. A cat that lives at a University in Pakistan is named in her honor (the cat’s name: “Doctor Barbara Rogoff”). Her award-winning books include Learning Together: Children and Adults in a School Community; The Cultural Nature of Human Development; and Developing
📍 Abbott Square Market
🕒 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM · FREE
Come hang out in the secret garden and have some laughs, EVERY MONDAY NIGHT. Featuring comedians from all over the area and beyond.
📍 UCSC Arboretum
🕒 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM · FREE
Do you love plants, the environment, and helping your community? The UCSC Arboretum & Botanic Garden has a wonderful crew of staff, students, and volunteers ready to welcome you. Opportunities include working to care for our gardens and greenhouses and staffing our gift shop and retail plant nursery. To learn more, join us at one of our monthly information sessions. We meet at Norrie's Gift & Garden Shop at 10am and take a walk through the gardens to learn more about the Arboretum and to visit a few of our volunteer groups at work. You can fill out an interest form to let us know you'll be coming or just meet us at the gift shop. To find a link to the form and learn more, visit: https://arboretum.ucsc.edu/get-involved/become-a-volunteer/ If you have questions, need a different day, and/or have mobility issues, please email [email protected] Thank You!
📍 Santa Cruz Public Libraries
🕒 11:00 AM · See listing
Tuesday, August 11 2026 10:00am - 12:00pm Are you stuck with a technology question? You can make a free appointment with a tech savvy library staff member!
📍 Santa Cruz Public Libraries
🕒 11:00 AM · See listing
Tuesday, August 11 2026 10:00am - 12:00pm Are you stuck with a technology question? You can make a free appointment with a tech savvy library staff member!
📍 Santa Cruz Public Libraries
🕒 12:30 PM · See listing
Tuesday, August 11 2026 11:30am - 1:00pm Housing navigation services for people experiencing homelessness.
📍 Watsonville Library
🕒 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM · See listing
Event date: August 11, 2026 Event Time: 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM Location: 2021 Freedom Blvd Freedom, CA 95019 Watsonville, CA 95076
📍 Santa Cruz Wharf
🕒 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM · FREE
Hey Fishhook Fans, We will be rocking the Free Santa Cruz Wharf Summer Tuesday Night Live at the Wharf Commons stage on Tuesday, August 11th! This outdoor festival is free and open to all ages! If you have never been there, then expect a treat! It's an absolutely beautiful location with panoramic views of Monterey Bay, and the sunsets are not to be missed! Don't miss it! As you may know, we are the band that does not let up on the gas! Hear all your favorite songs "leveled up" the FISHHOOK way! You know we deliver the best Rock and Roll in town. Location: 21 Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz, CA Let's Party! And bring your friends too. The show starts at 6:00 PM and ends at 8:00 PM.
📍 Peoples Coffee
🕒 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM · FREE
Come to Peoples Coffee, the official Santa Cruz location for the Southmost events for the Golden Gate Gamemakers! Come join us as a branch under GGG known as Game Designers of Santa Cruz! It’s a relaxed chance to try new board games and card games, get feedback on your own prototypes if you are a game designer, and get advice on the games industry. New designers and interested players welcome! Please be courteous to other designers and stay to test their games if you are bringing your prototype to be tested. We run a small raffle thru the sign in sheet each night for participants to win new and used board game prizes. This is also Peoples Coffees first events they have held! They are generously keeping all services of food and drink available through the entire 6pm to 10pm event! They normally close at 5:30. Thank you Peoples Coffee! For all of our events at Peoples, affogatos (ice cream and espresso) are half off! We now have a Game Library located inside Peoples for anyone to use any time they are open! **Cost** This is a completely free event! Attendees are encouraged to buy some delicious drinks and food from Peoples Coffee. **Parking / Travel** You can park in the main parking lot in front of Peoples Coffee. There is a also side parking behind Peoples, and around the residential area. You are also free to park across the street near Salsas Taco Bar. See GGG’s full code of conduct here. Up-to-date details and our many other events can be found at meetup.com/playgoldengate Point of contact and organizer: Courtney Laschkewitsch
📍 m.k. contemporary art gallery
🕒 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM · FREE
“Confluence”: where separate currents meet. This beautiful exhibition pairs the work of Santa Cruz artists Susana Arias and Glenn Carter, on view August 7 through September 13 at M.K. Contemporary Art Gallery. “Confluence” is exhibited alongside of 25+ local and regional artists whose work we adore. Live improvisational jazz music from “The Leftovers” at the opening on the First Friday of August from 6-8PM
📍 Santa Cruz Wharf
🕒 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM · FREE
Welcome back to Tuesday Night Live at the Wharf Common’s stage! Every 2 nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month, head to the Wharf for live music and additional shows from 6 to 8pm. Check out Wharf Business pop ups, or make a dinner reservation before the shows. Be sure to bring a chair or wear your dancing shoes! May 26, 2026: SambaDá June 9, 2026: The Viva Santana Show June 23: 2026: The Unauthorized Rolling Stones July 14: 2026: Sweet VooDoo July 28: The Lost Boys Featuring James Durbin August 11, 2026: Santa Cruda August 25, 2026: The Joint Chiefs September 8, 2026: Extra Large After parties after every show will take place upstairs at Vino by the Sea !
📍 Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing
🕒 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM · FREE
Hugging Porcupines Productions presents Trivia Night, every Tuesday evening at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing. Trivia is always free to play. Grab your team and challenge yourself to 6 rounds of fun trivia.
📍 The Audrey Stanley Grove in DeLaveaga Park
🕒 7:00 PM · See listing
Something wicked this way comes, indeed. Starting this weekend and running through August 30th, Santa Cruz Shakespeare presents one of The Bard’s most infamous plays, Macbeth. Coincidentally the play’s 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, it’s easy to see why it’s lasted throughout the ages. Witches, murder, moral failings and tons of tragedy are beautifully sewn throughout the acts, stitched together with lines such as “Blood will have blood,” and “the wine of life is drawn.” -Mat Weir; Good Times Santa Cruz
📍 Callahan's
🕒 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM · FREE
Free live music every Tuesday night with the Del Mar Trio at Callahan's in Santa Cruz.
📍 Discretion Brewing
🕒 8:30 PM – 10:00 PM · See listing
Join us for Trivia Tuesdays at Discretion! Every Tuesday 6:30-8:00pm Hosted by Michael Cahalan Pair one of our 16 beers on tap with some lively Trivia, every Tuesday at 6:30pm. No sign-ups required - just come a little early to snag a table in the beer garden. Free to play | Prizes | Up to 6 per team
📍 Watsonville Library
🕒 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM · See listing
Event date: August 12, 2026 Event Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM Location: 2021 Freedom Blvd Freedom, CA 95019 Watsonville, CA 95076
📍 La Bahia Hotel & Spa
🕒 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM · FREE
For a more casual local draw, Low Tide features weekly dining specials including The Monday Slice ($20 signature pizzas), Wine Down Wednesdays (½ price bottles under $80), and Sunday Golden Hour offerings (4PM-6PM with $6 draft beer and house wine)
📍 Freedom Branch Library
🕒 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM · See listing
A bilingual storytime for toddlers with stories, songs, and rhymes in English and Spanish, promoting early literacy and language skills.
📍 Watsonville Library
🕒 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM · See listing
Event date: August 12, 2026 Event Time: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Location: 2021 Freedom Blvd Freedom, CA 95019 Watsonville, CA 95076
📍 Hummingbird Valley
🕒 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM · FREE
Instructors: Alexandra Johnson, MD, Kevin Johnson and Dena Ehrlich We spend much of our time being sedentary, lost in our minds. Yet each movement you make throughout your day is an opportunity to be present. Self-Breema exercises are simple and dynamic, and offer a direct experience of body-mind connection. As you practice in class, you increase your ability to be present during your day. You will leave class nurtured, revitalized, and with newfound positivity! You are also welcome to drop in to this class in person at Hummingbird Valley (free of charge; no registration required). Registration for the online attendance of this class is available via the ticket link. Registering for in-person or online is completely free.
📍 California Coffee
🕒 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM · FREE
Join us Wednesday, May 21st from 12:00 PM- 1:00 PM at California Coffee for an informative and uplifting workshop you won't want tfor suo miss! Our featured guest speaker, Manas S. Kshirsagar, AD, MS a NAMA Board Certified Ayurvedic Doctor with years of experience in holistic wellness and healing, will be presenting "Tools for Stress and Anxiety". With today's fast-paced world and the stress levels many of us are unduring, this workshop will offer valuable insight, practical tools and wellness strategies to help bring more balance, peace and calm into our daily lives. Lunch Special Available: Half Sandwich + Chips just $9.99 California Coffee, 9105 Soquel Dr., Aptos, CA 95003 cacoffeeaptos.com Thank you from myself Sylvia Reyes, and my amazing team for supporting our small business and community events!
