Verve Coffee Roasters has grown to become a major brand in artisanal coffee, with a successful wholesale business and 19 cafés across California and as far flung as Tokyo. But it’s Verve’s partnership with Capital One that could catapult the brand to a national footprint by the end of 2023. For Santa Cruzans, the collaboration with a major financial institution begs a larger question: Can the company that first brought the laid-back Santa Cruz vibe to California’s coffee scene sustain its boutique, surfer-chic appeal as it ascends the national stage?
Coast Life
Posted inCity Life
Strauss to Star Wars and Rossini to Ravel, Santa Cruz Symphony fires up for 2023-24 season
Kicking off Sept. 23 at the Civic Auditorium and also playing at the Henry J. Mello Center in Watsonville, the Santa Cruz Symphony’s upcoming season promises variety.
Posted inCity Life
AfroLatine Festival set to make splash on Santa Cruz cultural scene
Celebrating the cultural heritage of the Latine and African cultural diasporas and put on by Mi Gente, the AfroLatine Festival comes Sept. 16 to Santa Cruz’s Woodhouse Blending & Brewing.
Posted inCity Life
Jewel, Ben Harper and more: Sol Festival is on the horizon
Roaring Camp will be the scene Sept. 15-17 for the Santa Cruz Mountain Sol Festival, where the big names include Jewel, Ben Harper and Burning Spear. And you can even take the train there from Santa Cruz.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Free music outdoors, wine, beer and art and Pajaro Valley Pride — it’s a packed weekend in Watsonville
From free, family-friendly activities to strolling downtown and sampling the goods from Santa Cruz County wineries and breweries, it’s a good time to get yourself to Watsonville.
Posted inCoast Life
Otter 841 still roaming free as Fish & Wildlife struggles to capture her
Otter 841 remains free in the Santa Cruz waters, even as state and federal fish and wildlife workers continue to try to capture her. They could halt attempts if ocean conditions like visibility and water clarity worsen, or if surfers stop reporting run-ins.
Posted inCity Life
What will Cabrillo College renaming mean for arts organizations that share the name?
As Cabrillo College navigates the process of changing its name, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and Cabrillo Stage are keeping an eye on developments. Though it’s not tied to the college, the music festival is “committed to a thoughtful and thorough process for evaluating our name,” while the musical-theater company appears headed for a name change of its own.
Posted inCity Life
Laughternoon delight: Comedy impresario DNA bringing stand-up series downtown
Comic Amy Miller headlines the first of three Saturday afternoon shows on an outdoor stage at London Nelson Community Center in downtown Santa Cruz. Laughternoon kicks off Aug. 26.
Posted inCity Life
Improved audience numbers buoy Cabrillo Stage in first season under new leadership
“Compared to the last post-COVID audience numbers, we’re still increasing,” artistic director Andrea L. Hart says after wrapping up her first season at the helm of musical-theater company Cabrillo Stage. No word yet on 2024, but Hart has her eye on “things that feel magical.”
Posted inArts & Entertainment
As old guard passes baton on Santa Cruz arts scene, how will new leaders weather generational shift?
Many of the steady hands that have guided the likes of the Cabrillo Festival and Santa Cruz Shakespeare for years are stepping down even as the performing arts are at a crossroads nationally. There’s no guarantee it will be business as usual as a diverse group of millennials and Gen Z makes up larger shares of potential audiences, and whatever comes next will be fascinating to watch.