Without a doubt, this weekend’s main event takes place on Sunday with an epic celebration of the life of Jack O’Neill paddle out.
The first weekend of July also brings First Friday festivities, Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s season opener, and a truly unique event in the forest of Bonny Doon.
See our picks for the top events each day this weekend:
Friday
First Friday
There’s just something special about the first Friday of the month. It’s practically a holiday in Santa Cruz, where we celebrate art and artists, live music, and free admission to some pretty cool places.
Enjoy free admission to the follow venues:
Take a First Friday Art Tour and connect with local artists:
Photos for Futures
When: 7/7 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Where: Santa Cruz Food Lounge
Cost: Free
What happens when you hand out digital cameras to a group of school children in rural Cambodia? Find out at the Food Lounge on First Friday. This fundraiser features the photography of Gina Orlando and the children of Wat Leu Village. Enjoy live music, a food pop-up, craft cocktails, and a drawing for some awesome local prizes.
Additional First Friday Santa Cruz Events
- House of Boys Design @ Hive & Hum
- First Friday Art Walk @ Santa Cruz Zen Center
- Maia Negre @ Hotel Paradox
- Lost Childhoods Exhibition Opening @ Santa Cruz MAH
- Waves and Wildlife Photo Exhibit @ Sanctuary Exploration Center
Santa Cruz Shakespeare: The 39 Steps
When: 7/7 – 7/8 at 8:00 pm
Where: The Grove at DeLaveaga Park
Cost: $25, $50, $55
Santa Cruz Shakespeare season returns for its second season at The Grove in Delaveaga Park. Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, directed by Paul Mullins, will feature four actors taking on over 150 roles! Catch it opening weekend or some time before September 3.
Free Friday Night Bands on the Beach: Quiet Riot
When: 7/7 at 6:30 pm & 8:30 pm
Where: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Cost: Free
Feel the noize and get wild, wild, wild with Quiet Riot featuring our very own James Durbin! Walk, ride your bike, or take the trolley and bang your head at the 6:30 or 8:30 pm show.
Keystone Korner 45th Anniversary Celebration
When: 7/7 at 7:00 pm
Where: Kuumbwa Jazz Center
Cost: $30/Advance $35/Day of Show No Comp Tix
Calling all jazz enthusiasts to celebrate the 45th anniversary of San Francisco’s famed Keystone Korner jazz club. Former owner, Todd Barkan, has assembled an all-star lineup featuring saxophonists Charles McPherson, Gary Bartz and Azar Lawrence, bassist Ray Drummond and several other special guest artists who have been part of the amazing Keystone Korner legacy.
Farm to Table Wine Dinner – Featuring Cinnabar Winery
When: 7/7 from 6:30 pm to 5:00 pm
Where: Chaminade Resort & Spa
Cost: $110
Enjoy an evening of local food and wine from the Central Coast prepared by Chef Nicholas Church at the July installment of the Farm to Table Wine Dinner series. You’ll get to take in Chaminade’s great panoramic views and enjoy a relaxing atmosphere as you meet and mingle with guests, the chef, vintners and local farm representatives. Reservations required.
Also on Friday
- Justin Martin @ The Catalyst
- Debra Messenger presents: Froth @ The Catalyst
- The Sun Kings @ Don Quixote’s
- Locomotive Breath @ Crow’s Nest
- Zion I @ Moe’s Alley
- There Is No Mountain, Sun Maiden @ The Crepe Place
- Pacific Groove @ Severino’s
- Botanist, Worship, Numenorean, Wormwitch, Sentient Ignition @ The Blue Lagoon
- Lyin’ I’s @ The Cats Restaurant & Bar
- GroovaRoo Dance with Motion Pacific – Family Fun(k) Dance Party @ Motion Pacific
- The Addams Family Musical Comedy @ Cabrillo Crocker Theater
- Meteor Trail Hike @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Junior Rangers @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Little Rangers @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Campfire Program @ New Brighton State Beach
- Teen Glow-in-the-Dark Beach Volleyball @ Main Beach Volleyball Courts
Want to see all the best events in Santa Cruz every weekend? Click here to get these Weekend Roundup posts delivered straight to your inbox.Saturday
2nd Annual Santa Cruz Summer Showdown Roundnet Tournament
When: 7/8 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Seabright Beach
Cost: Free to watch!
This weekend, Seabright Beach will be home to the largest Roundnet (Spikeball) tournament ever held in the Bay Area. This modified version of volleyball meets four square is played around a round trampoline-like net, hence the name. With over 50 teams competing this will be a great spectator sport at the beach that may inspire you to give it a try!
Cyanotype Workshop
When: 7/8 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Where: Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
Cost: $20 Adult | $15 Children | $5 off for Museum Members
Get in touch with nature and your creative side at this workshop led by local artist Marlene Mirassou. Make one of a kind prints of California native plants using the power of the sun—a photographic printing process known as cyanotype. All ages are welcome.
Santa Cruz Baroque Festival: Boomeria Organ Extravaganza
When: 7/8 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Where: Chapel Royal
Cost: Advance tickets are $50; $60 at the door. Admission is free for children 14 and under when accompanied by parent or guardian
Beloved high school physics and chemistry teacher, “The Boom,” restored and built upon the Boomeria pipe organ with his San Lorenzo High School students. A labor of love, over the years it became an impressive 2500 pipe instrument. Set up in the forest of Bonny Doon, you can listen to and even crawl through the organ itself. Beer, wine, soda and snacks will be available.
Also on Saturday
- Sin Sisters Burlesque @ Kuumbwa Jazz Center
- Foreverland @ The Catalyst
- Strawberry Souls @ The Cats Restaurant & Bar
- China Cats Grateful Dead Tribute @ Don Quixote’s
- Joint Chiefs @ Crow’s Nest
- ORGONE + The Seshen @ Moe’s Alley
- San Geronimo @ The Crepe Place
- Anarbor @ The Catalyst
- Patio Acoustic’s with Dave Muldawer @ Severino’s
- Spun (Rock, Reggae, Blues, and Disco) @ Severino’s
- FANG, Law Abiding Citizens, FUX, Modern Enemy @ The Blue Lagoon
- Book Talk: Joyce Oroz, Muralist & Mystery Author @ Scotts Valley Library
- Day on the Beach @ Cowell Beach
- City of Watsonville Nature Walks @ City of Watsonville – Nature Center
- Animal Shelter Relief Rescue Adoption Fair @ Pet Pals Discount Pet Supplies
- Atlantis Fantasyworld Summer Sale! @ Atlantis Fantasyworld
- History, Nature and Scenic Views: A Tour of the Grey Whale Ranch Area @ Wilder Ranch State Park
- Volunteer with the Trail Crew @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Basket Making Workshop @ Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
- Hike to Ocean View Summit @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Junior Rangers @ New Brighton State Beach
- Redwood Grove Loop Walk @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Redwood Grove Loop Walk @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Junior Rangers @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Little Rangers @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Summer Concert Series @ New Brighton State Beach
Keep up with us all weekend long, and see which events we’re attending, by following Santa Cruz Life on Instagram.Sunday
SCM Makers Market
When: 7/9 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Mountain Community Resources
Cost: Free Admission
Over 40 artists and crafters will show their wares at the Santa Cruz Mountains Makers Market. Enjoy food and live music while you shop and support Mountain Community Resources non-profit.
Celebration of the Life of Jack O’Neill Paddle Out
When: 7/9 starting at 11:00 am
Where: Pleasure Point
The O’Neill family would like to invite everyone to join a paddle out in honor of Jack’s life and adventures. There will be numerous paddle outs worldwide simultaneously, but locally you’ll find the daylong celebration at Jack’s favorite beach, Pleasure Point, starting at 11:00 AM. Plan to arrive early as Pleasure Point streets will be closed to public parking.
Also on Sunday
- Open Bluegrass Jam @ The Crepe Place
- Joe Ferrara @ The Cats Restaurant & Bar
- Incendio @ Don Quixote’s
- Live Comedy @ Crow’s Nest
- Guitar Shorty @ Moe’s Alley
- Left Coast Country, Ty Alex @ The Crepe Place
- The Box @ The Blue Lagoon
- Tad Williams, The Witchwood Crown @ Bookshop Santa Cruz
- Santa Cruz Shakespeare Hitchcock Week: Spellbound @ 515 Kitchen and Cocktails
- Downtown Antique Fair @ Downtown Santa Cruz
- Atlantis Fantasyworld Summer Sale! @ Atlantis Fantasyworld
- Berry Creek Falls Hike @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Junior Rangers @ New Brighton State Beach
- Outlook from Mt. McAbee @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Redwood Grove Loop Walk @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Discover Big Basin Redwoods Hike! @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Seacliff History Tour @ Seacliff State Beach
- Redwood Grove Loop Walk @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Junior Rangers @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Little Rangers @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Twilight Adaptation Adventure @ Big Basin Redwoods State Park
- Birding Through the Habitats @ Quail Hollow Ranch
- Younger Lagoon Reserve Tour @ Seymour Marine Discovery Center
- Sunday Seaside Crafts @ Seymour Marine Discovery Center
- Cleanup Cowells Project @ Cowell Beach
- Weekly Davenport Main Beach @ Davenport beach
Featured Upcoming Event
What: Celebrating 50 Years of Volunteerism
Where: Sesnon House, 6500 Soquel Dr
When: Saturday July 29th
Cost: $40 in advance or $120 for a family of four. $45 at the door.
In celebration of a half century of local volunteerism through the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, all community members are invited to attend a big birthday bash featuring a summer BBQ, drinks, dessert, live music, auction items, and fun activities for all ages.
PS – Get coverage of the best Santa Cruz events and other Santa Cruz Life content delivered straight to your inbox by signing up below…
