Quick Take:
Summertime is on the horizon and, lest you've forgotten, Santa Cruz County is chock full of fun activities from fine art to family frolics. It's all here.
Perhaps the biggest gatherings in Santa Cruz County this summer will look a lot like the April 5 “Hands Off” protest at the county courthouse. However uplifting or galvanizing those events might be, only a masochist would call them “fun.” But you owe it to yourself and your friends and family to do that most American of things — have genuine fun in the summertime. Here’s a look at what’s in store for fun-seekers in the coming months:
Last summer, Santa Cruz Shakespeare made a great leap forward in its programming under artistic director Charles Pasternak. For the first time ever, the company moved into the fall with a new production in the Audrey Stanley Grove, and started a new holiday tradition with “A Christmas Carol” in downtown Santa Cruz. This summer, SCS dives in with what may be Shakespeare’s most crowd-pleasing play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and one of his most rarely produced plays, “Pericles.” Also in the mix for the summer is a big splashy bona-fide musical, Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Opening night for “Midsummer” is July 18, with “Into the Woods” opening July 19. “Pericles” opens July 31. The fall season picks up Sept. 5 with a new production of (the recently deceased) Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold … and the Boys.”
You could call the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music a midsummer fortnight’s dream. The celebrated two-week festival of new music returns to the Santa Cruz Civic with its first open rehearsals July 27. Featured guest performers this year include violinist Jennifer Koh leading a piece of five “interconnected healing spells,” baritone Sidney Outlaw and soprano Michelle Areyzaga in a song cycle based on the correspondence between Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, and genre- and gender-bending multi-instrumentalist Darian Donovan Thomas. Opening night is Aug. 1.
Cabrillo Stage is coming back for another Santa Cruz summer at the Crocker Theater at Cabrillo College. This year, artistic director Andrea L. Hart presents the deliciously lurid Tony Award-winning play “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler. Opening night is July 18, through Aug. 10.
This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the first Gay Pride parade in Santa Cruz, and Santa Cruz Pride is celebrating the big birthday with the return of the once-popular “Queer Evening in May” at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center May 29. That’s followed by a special 50-year celebration of the drag show “Queerlantis” at The Rio May 31, and, of course, the Pride Parade and Festival in downtown Santa Cruz June 1.
The Santa Cruz Symphony‘s annual pops concert lands at the Santa Cruz Civic, featuring the greatest compositions from the immortal John Williams with selections from “Star Wars,” “ET,” “Indiana Jones” and more. This year’s concert is June 7.
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has in past years brought the summer crowds with live music and movies on the beach. The Boardwalk has yet to announce its lineup for the summer.
The ultra-cool and always thrilling Woodies on the Wharf car show, featuring a dazzling display of grand old wood-bodied surf wagons, comes back to the Santa Cruz Wharf June 22. The gawking and admiring is all free.
Up in the San Lorenzo Valley, the Redwood Mountain Faire returns to Roaring Camp in Felton with a great line-up on three stages, including Laurie Lewis, Keith Greeninger, Jesse Daniel and many more. It all happens Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1.
The Midtown Fridays block party will be going down every Friday throughout the summer from May 30 to Aug. 29 at 1111 Soquel Ave. in Santa Cruz, with a different great local band every week.
The Juneteenth celebration is again slated for Laurel Park, just outside the London Nelson Community Center, this year on June 14. Look for a parade, a festival, live music and more fun.
The Japanese Cultural Fair returns this year, celebrating the food, crafts and culture of Japan. The free event happens June 7 at the Mission Plaza Park near Mission Santa Cruz.
The Capitola Art & Wine Festival brings the crowds to the Capitola Esplanade. The two-day free festival happens Sept. 13 and 14. Also in Capitola Village, don’t forget the weekly Twilight Concert series every Wednesday evening June, July and August.
The Scotts Valley Art, Wine & Beer Festival comes Aug. 16 and 17 and lots of great live entertainment and plenty of libations, all at Skypark in Scotts Valley.
Independence Day is celebrated throughout the county with July 4 celebrations in Scotts Valley, Watsonville, Roaring Camp, Wilder Ranch, Boulder Creek and Aptos, not to mention the Santa Cruz Firecracker Race.
On the subject of epic foot races, let’s not forget the great Santa Cruz-to-Capitola Wharf To Wharf Race taking place first thing in the morning of July 27 this year.
The Watsonville Strawberry Festival also returns to downtown Watsonville, celebrating all things strawberry. The three-day fest takes place Aug. 1-3.
And, not to blow our own horn, but you can keep up with all the big names and intriguing shows and/or appearances happening in Santa Cruz County by dropping in on our “Down The Line” curated calendar.
If your summer gaze wanders outside Santa Cruz County, there are plenty of things of note. Perhaps the biggest story is the return of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, returning after a five-year absence, July 25-27. The venue has moved to Gilroy Gardens on Highway 152, just on the other side of the mountain from the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
San Francisco’s behemoth Outside Lands music festival is coming Aug. 8-10 with all kinds of big-name acts including Vampire Weekend, Doja Cat, Tyler the Creator, Gracie Abrams and tons more.
Monterey’s fabulous California Roots festival, known widely as “Cali Roots,” comes to the Monterey County Fairgrounds May 23-25 with Collie Buddz, Hip Abduction, Rebelution and more.
A bit later in the summer, the Monterey Jazz Festival returns for its 68th year at the MoCo Fairgrounds, this year featuring Dianne Reeves, Christian McBride, Delfeayo Marsalis, Trombone Shorty and many more. It all happens Sept. 26-28.
Let’s not forget the posh Monterey Car Week, including the one-of-a-kind Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, happens Aug. 8-17.
In between, there’s never a bad day to visit the beaches, or the biking and hiking trails. Whatever you do, find a way to stop the doomscrolling. The summer awaits.