If you have kids who love things that go, make plans: On Saturday, Zoom Honk Smash Touch A Truck returns to the parking lot outside the Capitola Mall, with at least a dozen large vehicles, from city buses to bulldozers, to explore, art activities and games, food trucks and pumpkins dropped every hour from an enormous crane. Yes, there’s a splash zone for pumpkin goop. – Lily Belli
Here are more upcoming local events you might be interested in:
Thursday, Oct. 1
- Open Studios Preview Exhibition | 11 a.m. @ M.K. Contemporary Art Gallery | Free
- “The Last Five Years,” presented by Santa Cruz Shakespeare | 7 p.m. @ The Audrey Stanley Grove at DeLaveaga Park | $25-$90
- Groundation | 8 p.m. @ Felton Music Hall | $38.60
Friday, Oct. 2
- First Friday Art Tour Santa Cruz | 5 p.m. | Various locations | Free
- Minnow Arts and Jonathan Steinberg Present: “I Turn My Body From The Sun” | 5 p.m. @ Minnow Arts | Free
- Fire & Grace & Flamenco with special guests Fanny Ara and Ian Scarfe | 7:30 p.m. @ UCSC Music Center Recital Hall | $50
- Fruit Bats | 8 p.m. @ Rio Theatre | $50.18
Saturday, Oct. 3
- Zoom Honk Smash Touch A Truck | 10:30 a.m. @ Capitola Mall | Free
- Open Studios Art Tour 2026 | 11 a.m. @ Multiple Locations in South County | Free
- Tomato To Table | 11 a.m. @ Farm Discovery at Live Earth Farm | $55.20-$87.21
- Santa Cruz Porchfest | Noon @ Downtown Santa Cruz | Free
- Gourmet Grazing on the Green | Noon @ Aptos Village Park | $48.04-$1,564.95
- Steel Bonnet’s 11th Anniversary Party | Noon @ Steel Bonnet Brewing Company | Free
- Harvest Festival | Noon @ Downtown Santa Cruz | Free
- 5th Annual Scotts Valley Multicultural Fair | Noon @ Sky Park | Free
Sunday, Oct. 4
- Thomas’ Halloween Party | 9 a.m. @ Roaring Camp Railroads | $25-$27
- Surfrider Santa Cruz Launches Fundraising Beach Cleanup-a-Thon | 9 a.m. @ Rio Del Mar State Beach | Free
- Dip & Drip by Perch Sauna at Davenport Roadhouse | 11 a.m. @ Davenport Roadhouse | $25
- Pie for the People Community Potluck | 1 p.m. @ Homeless Garden Project Farm | Free
