Hi There, Santa Cruz!
Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a time to honor the first peoples of this land and the Indigenous communities who continue to shape its story.
Also, this Saturday, Oct. 17, marks 37 years since the Loma Prieta earthquake – a date that needs no explanation for anyone who was here. At 5:04pm, life in Santa Cruz changed forever. Many of us can still recall exactly where we were, who we worried about and how it all felt. This week, we remember those we lost and how we all pulled together to help our community find its footing again.
Looking ahead to what’s up this week…
😂 Comedy, mind reading and hot sauce?! Apparently, just telling jokes wasn’t enough. DNA’s Santa Cruz Comedy Festival takes over local stages Monday-Saturday, Oct. 12-17, starting with free shows this evening at Abbott Square (7pm) and Rosie McCann’s (9pm). More free laughs follow at the Blue Lagoon Tuesday (7:45pm), Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery Wednesday (8pm) and Gilman Brewing Thursday (7pm). Saturday’s downtown takeover includes Streetlight Records, Pleasure Pizza and Abbott Square, plus a ticketed Kuumbwa finale (7pm) featuring 13 headliners.
🎤 If your Monday calls for a little jazz, Grammy-nominated vocalist and composer Somi has you covered at Kuumbwa this evening, Mon., Oct. 12 (7pm). The daughter of immigrants from Uganda and Rwanda, Somi has made her mark in international jazz.
👹 And if you prefer your Monday music LOUD, then head to Felton Music Hall tonight (8pm) for metal from Nekrogoblikon – a band name that seems right at home on an October calendar. Lakeview plays there on Tues., Oct. 13 (8pm). Both shows are 21+. If you just want to live in Felton for the week and watch music, Bumpin Uglies follows Thurs., Oct. 15 (9pm), mixing reggae, ska and punk. That one’s ages 16+.
🐶 A kid, a book and a very good dog hanging on every word. Could this BE any cuter? Tales to Tails at Capitola Library Tues., Oct. 13 (4-5:30pm) gives young readers a chance to practice with a trained therapy dog. Contact the branch to reserve an appointment.
🎃 Kids are going to love this… Finally, permission to play with your food! Felton Farmers’ Market’s Pumpkin Decorating Bonanza Tues., Oct. 13 (1:30-5:30pm) lets kids and adults give Rodoni pumpkins a makeover with veggies, buttons and googly eyes. Decorating is free; pumpkin ice cream and cardamom carrot pumpkin bread sweeten the deal.
🎬 It’s time to set down the remote and slowly walk away from the sofa + streaming… The Santa Cruz Film Festival fills five local theaters with independent films Wednesday-Sunday, Oct. 14-18, from documentaries and narrative features to shorts and experimental work. Screenings at the Del Mar, Rio, Colligan Theater, Santa Cruz Cinema and The 418 Project share the calendar with filmmaker conversations and festival gatherings. You might even get to ask the person who made the movie what they were thinking.
👾 Monsters have their own research center at UCSC. It’s Santa Cruz. Of course they do. The Festival of Monsters lets the rest of us in on the fun with a screening of The Quatermass Xperiment at The 418 Project Weds., Oct. 14 (7:30pm), followed by an afternoon of supernatural storytelling downtown Saturday, Oct. 17. Authors Kiersten White and Clay McLeod Chapman talk horror at the MAH (2pm), Game Santa Cruz hosts monster-themed board and card games (2pm, 3pm and 4pm), and Wolverine and Deadpool writer Iván Brandon talks monster comics at Atlantis Fantasyworld (4pm). Saturday’s author panel, comics program and afternoon games are free; reserve a spot for the games.
🎸 Weds., Oct. 14 presents a tough decision for music lovers. Acoustic Alchemy plays Kuumbwa at 7pm, while Bonnie Raitt is at the Santa Cruz Civic that same evening (7:30pm), with special guest Jon Cleary. Check ticket availability before setting your heart on either…they are selling fast. For reggae fans, the choice on Weds. is easy: Alborosie & Shengen Clan play Moe’s Alley (doors 7pm; show 8pm). The Sicily-born, Kingston-based roots reggae artist shares the bill with Rise Up and Selecta 7. Ages 21+.
🧟 A zombie apocalypse is much easier to enjoy with a drink in your hand. Shaun of the Dead screens at The Grove Weds., Oct. 14 (7:30-10pm), pairing the horror comedy with a night in the Boardwalk’s historic ballroom. A full bar and snacks are available; $18 admission includes one hosted drink. Ages 21+ (even the undead need ID).
🚶🛴 Give the school drop-off line a day off. Walk & Roll to School Thurs., Oct. 15 encourages families to walk, bike, scoot or skate their way to class. Plan your route, grab your helmet if you’re rolling and start the school day with some fresh air.
🎶 Cumbia, ancestral rhythms and psychedelic sounds share the stage when Dos Santos plays Kuumbwa Thurs., Oct. 15 (8pm). The Chicago quintet draws on rhythms from across the Americas, weaving guitars, keyboards, congas and drums into a sound that takes Latin music into unexpected territory.
🦫 Pack a picnic and spend Friday night with the beavers. Watsonville’s Movies in the Park screens Pixar’s Hoppers Oct. 16 at Franich Park, where an animal lover discovers a way to communicate with wildlife through a robotic animal. The free, PG-rated movie starts around sunset (6:30pm). Bring chairs, blankets and something warm for when the sun clocks out.
⚡ It’s alive – and it has a band. Frankenstein screens with a live score by Sleepbomb at the Rio Fri., Oct. 16 (7:30pm). The San Francisco group pairs the 1931 horror classic with psychedelic rock, electronics and the ominous depths of drone and post-doom metal. Boris Karloff supplies the monster; Sleepbomb gives it new life. Doors 6:30pm; tickets $20.
🥁 Anyone near the Boardwalk definitely will not be sleeping in on Saturday morning! Fifty-five Northern California school marching bands compete in the Santa Cruz Band Review Oct. 17, starting at 9am. Find a spot along the route and cheer on the young musicians as they’re judged on music, marching and showmanship. Expect some parking restrictions and minor detours nearby.
🎨 Still haven’t followed those yellow signs? Open Studios’ final All County Weekend Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 17-18 (11am-5pm) gives you one more chance to meet participating artists where they work. Explore studios across the county, ask about a piece that catches your eye and perhaps take something home. Free admission.
🍎 Tractor rides, fresh cider and an apple pie bake-off – Fall is happening even if the weather hasn’t completely gotten the memo. The UCSC Harvest Festival Sat., Oct. 17 (11am-3pm) adds pumpkin painting, flower pressing, face painting and live music from Sambada and Lucas Lawson to the mix. Admission is $5; children under 12, current UCSC, Cabrillo and Hartnell students, and Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden members get in free.
🎭 Need a new mask for Halloween? Make one! The free Halloween Mask Making Festival at London Nelson Community Center Sat., Oct. 17 (noon-4:30pm) combines creative mask making with carnival games, Thriller performances and “Nightmares – A Stage Spooktacular.” Take the kids and let them decide how frightening the family should look.
👻 Come in costume and bring something for the table. Ben Lomond’s Games & Ghosts Supper Club Sat., Oct. 17 (4-7pm) pairs board games with a community potluck; main courses and drinks are supplied, and guests sign up to contribute a dish. Free; reserve your seat ahead.
🎃 Why pick a pumpkin from a field when you can fish one out of a pool? The Floating Pumpkin Patch at Simpkins Family Swim Center Saturday, Oct. 17 (4-7pm) lets swimmers retrieve their pumpkins before decorating them. Games, open swim, a costume contest and a scavenger hunt rounds out the day. Listed admission is $20. Swimming for pumpkins in October – another “only in Santa Cruz” moment.
🛍️ Get a head start on holiday shopping, or just find something you weren’t looking for and didn’t know you needed. More than 40 local makers and artists fill the 1100 block of Pacific Avenue for the Downtown Santa Cruz Makers Market Sun., Oct. 18 (10am-5pm). Browse locally handmade goods and meet the people behind them. Free admission.
🎸 She plays prestigious venues around the world; Sunday, we get to hear her for free. Italian guitar virtuoso Giulia Ballarè performs at Kuumbwa Sun., Oct. 18, with music by Turina, Antonio José and Villa-Lobos. Ballarè also teaches at conservatories in Switzerland and Italy. All ages welcome; registration required. Doors 6:30pm.
News Highlights:
Coastal Flood Advisory Continues Through Tuesday
Road Closures Affect Highway 1, Highway 9 and Watsonville
Voter Services Come to Local Libraries
Capitola Approves 41st Avenue Corridor Plan
Watsonville Invites Input on Its Future
Pajaro Valley Considers Farmland Repurposing Plan
PVUSD Superintendent Will Leave After School Year
Free Medi-Cal Renewal Help Available Saturday
County Poet Laureate Applications Open Thursday
Plus a Season of Sound, Some Spicy Sauce, a Berry Special Wine, a Free Art Exhibit at Cabrillo, a 12-hour Journey at 1am, Forklift-worthy Pumpkins…and much more!
TOP STORIES
Coastal Flood Advisory Continues Through Tuesday
A Coastal Flood Advisory remains in effect along the Santa Cruz County shoreline through Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 3pm, with high tides potentially flooding coastal trails and cutting off access to low-lying beaches.
Road Closures Affect Highway 1, Highway 9 and Watsonville
Allow extra time for ongoing overnight Highway 1 lane closures near Aptos and alternating Highway 9 lane closures at Pool Drive; in Watsonville, overnight paving closures at Highway 152 and Lincoln Street begin Sunday, Oct. 18 at 10pm.
Voter Services Come to Local Libraries
Get help registering, replacing or casting a ballot at Boulder Creek Library Thursday, Oct. 15 from 1:30-5:30pm, Capitola Library Friday, Oct. 16 from 12:30-4:30pm, and Watsonville and Freedom libraries Saturday, Oct. 17 from noon-4pm.
Capitola Approves 41st Avenue Corridor Plan
Capitola City Council approved a long-term plan to improve pedestrian safety, bike connections and traffic flow along 41st Avenue, Clares Street and Capitola Road near the planned mall redevelopment.
Watsonville Invites Input on Its Future
Residents can weigh in on Watsonville’s proposed General Plan 2050, covering housing, transportation, businesses and conservation, at an open house Wednesday, Oct. 14 from 5:30–7:30pm in the Civic Plaza Community Room.
Pajaro Valley Considers Farmland Repurposing Plan
PV Water will host a Zoom workshop Wednesday, Oct. 14 from noon–1pm on a voluntary plan to repurpose marginal farmland to conserve groundwater and support flood protection, wildlife habitat and open space.
PVUSD Superintendent Will Leave After School Year
Heather Contreras will leave Pajaro Valley Unified at the end of the school year to lead San Luis Coastal Unified beginning July 1, 2027.
Free Medi-Cal Renewal Help Available Saturday
Santa Cruz Community Health’s Live Oak Clinic will offer free help completing Medi-Cal renewal paperwork Saturday, Oct. 17 from 8am-noon.
County Poet Laureate Applications Open Thursday
Applications open Thursday, Oct. 15 for Santa Cruz County’s next poet laureate, an honorary two-year position supporting public readings and a community poetry project.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Between keeping up with the news and figuring out what’s for dinner, it’s easy to miss a story or two. Here are a few highlights from Good Times on what’s happening, who’s making moves and what all the buzz is about across the county this week.
K-pop meets Stravinsky, and Rachmaninoff shares a program with tech pioneer Jaron Lanier in the Santa Cruz Symphony’s 2026–27 season. Christina Waters explores Music Director Daniel Stewart’s unexpected pairings – and the AI-assisted artwork he created to go with them.
In this week’s column, wellness writer Elizabeth Borelli tells us, “If you find yourself looking to push the edges of self-expression, intimacy and connection, you may want to try the Sauce, founder Bez Stone’s sexy, edge-pushing local monthly event.”
Good Times wine writer Josie Cowden says Dresser Winery’s 2023 Zinfandel ($65) is an absolute winner. Aromas of blueberries, blackberries, dark fig and dates combine with more savory notes of barbecue mesquite and grilled portobellos, say the folks at Dresser. These tempting aromas “lead to floral notes of deep rose, wild violets and plumeria, creating a beautiful complexity on the nose, with a slight sweetness rounding out the soft tannins on the mid-palate.”
What keeps us going when life gets tough? Cabrillo Gallery’s “La Resiliencia” explores that question through the work of 24 Latino/a/x artists, drawing on family, memory and shared strength in a free exhibition on view through Oct. 27.
Most of us are asleep at 1am; UCSC student Oliver Levine was setting off on a solo, 48-mile paddle across Monterey Bay and back, with no support boat. Pitch-black water, eerie sounds and a whale gliding beneath his board were all part of the 21-year-old’s 12-hour journey.
Read your Free Will Astrology horoscope from Rob Brezsny here.
WAIT, WHAT?!🎃🚜🏋️💰
Some people grow pumpkins. Others grow pumpkins that require a forklift. Half Moon Bay’s World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off is today, Monday, Oct. 12. The winner gets $9 a pound – which makes a 2,000-pound pumpkin an $18,000 payday. There’s also a $30,000 total prize package for a new world record. Last year, Brandon Dawson, a manufacturing engineer from Santa Rosa, California, won with a massive 2,346-pound gourd. And here I was, feeling proud I was able to grow three little cherry tomato plants this year.