Downtown Santa Cruz is an awesome place for friends and family to meet, shop, dine, take in entertainment, and just generally explore. But sometimes it can be hard for families to find something that can be fun for both the parents and the kids.
Lucky for them, this July 27th through August 3rd is officially Kids Week in Downtown Santa Cruz — and anyone twelve and under won’t want to miss it.
The Food
Kids love their treats, and their parents love a good deal. Kids week offers plenty of munchies for children, including kids meal deals and dessert treats at downtown favorites like Pono Hawaiian Grill, Saturn Cafe, Woodstock’s, and Buttercup Cakes. On top of all this, at 3 p.m. on July 27th, Mission Hill Ice Creamery will be hosting a raffle for a year’s worth of free ice cream!
The Shows
Santa Cruz movie theatres will be providing entertainment for the whole family this week. The Del Mar Theatre will be hosting a free showing of Steven Speilberg’s classic E.T. the Extra Terrestrial at 10 a.m. on Sunday, July 27th. On July 29th and 30th, the Santa Cruz Regal 9 will show a double feature of The Croods and Epic 3D.
The Entertainment
There’s a plentiful amount of fairs and festivals for the whole family to choose from happening during Kids Week. There’s the Church Street Fair with free music, food, and art on August 2nd and 3rd; Hula demonstrations at Pono from 11 a.m. to four p.m. on August 2nd; and a Free Family Concert put on by Cabrillo at the Civic Auditorium on August 3rd. There will also be free demo classes at Laird’s Academy of Martial Arts from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, and that same day Bookshop Santa Cruz will host a Where’s Waldo party and raffle from 2-4 p.m.
Weeklong Fun
Apart from all the cool events this week, there are also some deals and opportunities you and your rugrats have all week to take advantage of. Petroglyph is offering all the little aspiring artists in Santa Cruz pain a ceramic tile for free, and miniature gamers can play in the Video Lounge at Level Up Video Games for free. Level Up is also offering special deal on certain items, as is Comicopolis. Finally, cyclists with and without training wheels can take special classes at Motion Specific, Spokesman’s Bikes, and Bike Dojo.
Whatever your kid’s interests, you should be able to find something the whole family will have a blast at together this Kids Week. Here’s hoping this becomes an annual tradition.
The Downtown Association has all the details and event times.
