From the waves to the redwoods, it's all happening here.

The first annual Aloha Music & Arts Festival Santa Cruz will take place Friday, July 31, and Saturday, Aug. 1, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day at Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, bringing together local musicians, hula schools, artists, food vendors, and community organizations for a weekend celebrating Hawaiian, Polynesian, and Pacific cultures. Gates open daily at 11 a.m. Admission to the festival is free. Donations are welcome. Parking will be available for $20 per vehicle. No in-and-out privileges will be allowed, and re-entry fees will be enforced. Produced by Victor Ohana Productions LLC, the festival aims to celebrate the Spirit of Aloha while creating a new cultural tradition for the Central Coast community. Organizers say the event was created to strengthen connections among local Polynesian communities, while offering residents and visitors a new summer cultural experience in Santa Cruz County. “This festival is about bringing people together through music, dance, food, art, and community,” said Marie Victor, founder of Victor Ohana Productions. “Santa Cruz has deep cultural and historical connections to Hawaiʻi through surf culture and the ocean lifestyle. We wanted to create an event that celebrates those shared influences while showcasing the incredible local talent we have here in Northern California.” Rather than featuring a national headliner, the festival will spotlight local bands and performers from throughout Santa Cruz County and the surrounding region. Organizers said the focus of the event is community participation and cultural authenticity. Festival attendees can expect: ● Food vendors featuring Pacific-inspired cuisine ● Local arts, crafts, and merchandise vendors ● Information booths from community nonprofits and organizations ● Family-friendly cultural activities and entertainment Local Live Music ● Victor Ohana 3 Generations ● Ho' Omana ● Hunawai ● Kanalu ● Laule'a Hawaiian Band ● Ka La'i O Mele ● George Kahumoku Jr (Grammy Award Winner in

Squeeze in a little more summer before the back-to-school rush at Food Truck Friday! Join us for a great evening outside with dinner, live music by Identity Problem, and Brenda’s Face Painting for the kids. Our food lineup includes Rollin Snack Shack, Taquizas Gabriel, Italia Fire, Pana, Kuki’s, Scrumptious, and Cracked Cookies. Make sure to stop by the SVEF Beer and Wine Garden featuring Laughing Monk beer—every drink purchased goes directly to supporting our local classrooms. A big thanks to Mari Rossi for sponsoring the event and helping make this community celebration possible. Bring your lawn chairs or a picnic blanket and come enjoy the evening. Parking fills up quickly, so walking, biking, or using nearby public parking is highly recommended.

Free summer block party in Midtown Santa Cruz featuring live music, food trucks, local artists, makers, and family fun.

5:30-7:30pm The Paperback Ryders are an acoustic harmony power-trio. Accurate harmonies from many notable bands.

Enjoy live music from location musicians every Friday and Saturday. Venue is 21+ with wine, beer, and non-alcoholic options.

Rebecca Coupe Franks / Trumpet Nancy Heth / Vocals and Piano

OUTERNATIONAL (((Global Bass Dance))) • FRIDAY JULY 31ST• • With Resident DJs SELECTA 7 & RUDI B • Reggae • Dancehall • Rub A Dub • Jungle • Dubstep • Remixes No Cover Donations Appreciated 6pm-10pm Woodhouse Brewing and Blending 119 Madrone St. Santa Cruz Sponsored by The Green Spot!! Sound Reinforcement by Zion Farms!!

A concert featuring Pete Sawyer and the Left Hand Monkey Wrench Gang, performing a set of rock and alternative music.

Maria Muldaur is known worldwide for her 1974 hit “Midnight at the Oasis” which received several GRAMMY nominations and critical acclaim. Muldaur has toured worldwide and has recorded forty-three solo albums, spanning American roots music, gospel, R&B, jazz, and big band. Mulduar has recorded and produced, on average, one album per year throughout her career. In 2019, The Americana Music Association awarded Muldaur ‘The Lifetime Achievement Americana Trailblazer Award’ for her lifelong work covering the depth and breadth of roots music. On this concert date, Muldaur’s Jazzabelle Quintet will be performing a special evening of jazz and blues. Maria Muldaur Website (Ticket Includes 5% City of Santa Cruz Admission Tax)

A live performance of swing, blues, pop, jazz, and Latin music from a local band. Low-ticket price and an intimate seaside setting.

Conducted by Cristian Măcelaru Vivian Fung: America the Beautiful? (Festival Commission & world premiere) Pedro Emanuel Pereira: Clarinet Concerto (Carlos Ferreira, Clarinet) (Festival Commission & world premiere) Philip Glass: Symphony No. 15 Lincoln (Zachary James, Baritone) (West Coast premiere) 6:30PM • PRE-CONCERT PICNIC + TALK: A free outdoor pre-concert experience featuring a brass sextet and a special welcome by Music Director Cristian Măcelaru. Bring takeout or some snacks from home. Table seating available. The 64th season kicks off with Music Director Cristian Măcelaru leading the Festival Orchestra and audience in a powerful meditation on the distance between national ideals and lived reality. Vivian Fung‘s America the Beautiful? (Festival Commission & world premiere) opens the season with a work responding to the U.S. National Anthem through the lens of her intersectional identity as a dual Canadian-American citizen with Chinese familial lineage. The piece confronts the tension between patriotic tradition and the deeply imperfect struggle to uphold democratic values for all. Pedro Emanuel Pereira‘s Clarinet Concerto (Festival Commission, world premiere), featuring clarinetist Carlos Ferreira, blends Portuguese musical traditions with experimental timbres and performative innovation, reimagining virtuosity for the present moment. The program concludes with Philip Glass‘s Symphony No. 15 Lincoln (West Coast premiere)—featuring GRAMMY® award winning baritone Zachary James—is a six-movement symphony incorporating Abraham Lincoln’s own words, including the Emancipation Proclamation and reflections on law, power, and ambition. The work resonates forcefully with the urgencies of today.

Ashez is an Auckland, New Zealand-based producer working in the bass genre and debuting in the late 2010s. On record, his primary métier is the single. His two albums—2021’s Digital Human and the new-for-2026 Headway—are both remix collections. Named after Brazilian folklore’s protector of the rainforest, Kaipora is a Santa Clarita duo trafficking in bass and rhythmic soundscapes with processed vocals (both sung and rapped), deep grooves and glitchy synthesizer textures that are heavy and hypnotic. Regular fixtures on the festival circuit, both acts cultivate a musical atmosphere designed for dancing and other forms of communal celebration. -Bill Kopp; Good Times Santa Cruz

Moes Alley presents Prezident Brown with none other than Jamaican reggae legends Chalice! Friday, July 31, 2026Doors: 8pm / Show: 9pm$35 in advance / $40 day of show21+ * No Refunds | All sales are final* Avoid scammers! Only purchase tickets from moesalley.com or ticketweb.com* Tickets requested by email will be delivered 3 days prior to the event* Will Call tickets will be available at the door on the day of the event====PREZIDENT BROWNPrezident Brown, born Fitz Albert Cotterell, has been called, one of the most interesting cultural dee-jays since U Roy. Emphasizing positive messages, Prezident Brown has continued to pioneer his own direction, developing his own approach to dee-jaying that he calls, The chanting stylee. Born to a Seventh Day Adventist family in Colonel Ridge, Clarendon, Prezident Brown grew up in the small town of Oracabessa in the Parish of St. Mary, Jamaica.He was forced to leave school at a young age when his father died leaving him with his mother and three sisters. Prezident Brown launched his musical career at the age of fourteen, when he began dee-jaying for the Sound King Stereo Mix at the Bamboo Lounge. Initially known as Junior Ranking, Prezident Brown was dubbed, Slim Brown, by dee-jay Nicodemus. When he recorded his debut single in 1988 Prezident Brown was named, Dancehall Doctor. The late Jack Ruby, producer of Burning Spears albums, Marcus Garvey, and, Man In The Hills, bestowed the title, Prezident, upon him.In 1989, he joined Courtney Coles label, Roof International, and began performing and dee-jaying at the Rooftop Club in Ocho Rios. In 1990, Prezident Brown became involved with producers Barry OHare and Steven Stewart at Grove Music in Ocho Rios. It was Barry OHares X-Rated Record label that became Prezident Browns home base and it was X-Rated Records with Runn Records that launched his career in Europe. In Jamaica the X-Rated label took off as a massive roots revival swept across the country paving the way for Prezident Browns