Quick Take
Political organizers in Santa Cruz and Watsonville are expecting large crowds this weekend for a follow-up to October’s nationwide “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration.
Thousands are expected to fill the streets across Santa Cruz County this weekend in a follow-up to October’s “No Kings” protest. The local rallies will be part of a nationwide effort by several activist groups to protest the Trump administration.
A third round of “No Kings” rallies will take place Saturday in both Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Organizers in Santa Cruz plan to march through downtown following a rally at San Lorenzo Park starting at 10 a.m. In Watsonville, the protest will take place at the downtown plaza starting at noon, with speakers and performers.
“We honestly have no idea how many people are going to show up,” said Olivia Millard, one of the organizers of the Watsonville event on behalf of Indivisible Pajaro Valley. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm out there.”
Millard told Lookout that because of how much the protests have grown, the group needed to acquire a permit from the city and get portable bathrooms to accommodate the crowd size. The Oct. 18 demonstration drew nearly 3,000 to Watsonville’s downtown plaza — the biggest crowd size to date.
Amanda Harris Altice, one of the organizers of Indivisible Santa Cruz County, said the organization also is expecting a bigger crowd this time around. The previous “No Kings” rally in Santa Cruz drew nearly 15,000 protesters. The first “No Kings” rallies, on June 14, 2025, brought out as many as 8,000 people in Santa Cruz and about 1,500 in Watsonville.
“Given the status of world events and our national events here in the U.S., people still have reason to be mad and angry, and show up to this,” Harris Altice said. “So, I’m hoping that we have a larger turnout.”
Nationwide, organizers are expecting Saturday to be the largest peaceful protest in U.S. history, with nearly 3,000 rallies scheduled across the county. Similar “No Kings” protests are expected regionally in San Jose, Monterey, Salinas, Gilroy and Hollister. Harris Altice added that Indivisible chapters along the Central Coast coordinated with each other on event times, so community members have the opportunity to attend more than one rally.
Harris Altice told Lookout that Saturday’s event will be more march-focused than the previous two protests. The rally, which kicks off at 10 a.m., will have a shorter program, with only two speakers, she said, and added that it’s meant to “pump people up.” Following the rally, protesters will march along Soquel Avenue to Front and Cathcart streets, turning onto Pacific Avenue, then Water Street and back into the park.
As the Santa Cruz march winds down, the Watsonville event will be getting started. Among the speakers for the South County event is Rep. Zoe Lofgren and local rabbi Paula Marcus. Millard added that local dance troupe Estrellas de Esperanza and former Watsonville poet laureate Bob Gómez will be performing at the downtown plaza.
The rally will also serve a food drive for nonprofit Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes, said Millard, who added that other organizations will also have tables set up in the plaza. “We thought it was important to have an element of community care, of mutual aid at the protest, as well as a political statement,” said Millard.
Via email, Gayle Ortiz, owner of Gayle’s Bakery & Rosticceria and a former Capitola city councilmember, told Lookout that she’s organizing a “stand up” protest along the new Capitola Avenue overpass over Highway 1, encouraging residents to assemble with signs at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Both Millard and Harris Altice said there is no specific focus for this weekend’s Indivisible rallies; rather it’s a protest against a combination of Trump administration policies, from military actions in the Middle East to continued aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.
“This administration has been pushing out catastrophe after catastrophe so fast,” Millard said. “The scale and the scope of the harm is so much that we can’t protest for each issue.”
Harris Altice agreed.
“It’s just so many different things to focus on,” she said. “We have to find a balance and give everything enough space.”
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FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated with details of the protest planned for Saturday in Capitola.
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