🎶✨ Live Music Everywhere, Glowing Redwoods & Sugar in Space 🍭🌌
Summer Is Turning Up the Volume, Santa Cruz!
🎶 We’re heading into the heart of July, and Santa Cruz County is turning up the volume with an unusually strong week of live music – plus a dog-friendly river walk, cult-classic films, a glowing redwood forest, World Cup finals excitement and even a little poetry. Here’s what’s up!
🌿🐕 Tuesday morning (July 14, 9:30–11:30am), let your dog take you for a walk – and learn a few things along the way – during a free guided stroll along the San Lorenzo River. Beginning at Mimi De Marta Dog Park, the two-hour stroll explores the river’s ecology and history, with guides sharing insights about watershed health, native plants and ongoing conservation efforts. Bring comfortable walking shoes, water and sun protection.
🎸 Tuesday evening shifts from river walks to music and movies. Hopefully, you already scored tickets to Tuesday night’s (July 14) sold-out Nation of Language show at Felton Music Hall, where the acclaimed Brooklyn synth-pop trio puts a modern spin on ’80s new wave.
🎬 For a very different kind of audiovisual experience on Tuesday, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History screens the cult-classic documentary Koyaanisqatsi (6–8pm). Meaning “life out of balance” in the Hopi language, the dialogue-free 1982 film pairs mesmerizing time-lapse images of natural and urban landscapes with an original score by acclaimed composer Philip Glass. More than four decades later, its exploration of technology, urbanization and humanity’s relationship with the planet feels remarkably ahead of its time.
🎸 On Wednesday, July 15 (6–9pm), Santa Cruz-area Grateful Dead tribute and jam band Cats in the Roses performs an intimate outdoor show at Cabrillo Cottage Farms in Aptos. The lineup features David Gans, Bob Bralove, John Hanrahan and Skip Eye, with 100% of ticket sales going directly to the artists. Doors and parking open at 5pm.
Also Wednesday (doors 7pm; show 8pm), three influential figures in American music share the stage at Moe’s Alley when Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and Blasters co-founder Dave Alvin joins forces with Flatlanders co-founder Jimmie Dale Gilmore, along with special guest Lenny Kaye, Patti Smith’s longtime guitarist.
On Thursday, July 16 (7pm), 11-time Grammy winner and longtime former Santana lead vocalist Tony Lindsay and his quintet play Kuumbwa Jazz Center.
🎪 All week at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Evenings on the Colonnade brings a rotating lineup of free entertainment, including plate spinning with John Park, comedy juggling with Greg Frisbee and Scotty & Trink, live music from Flaco El Jandro and weekend DJ dance parties. On Friday, July 17 (9pm), bring a blanket or low-back chair to the beach in front of the Colonnade for a free movie screening of the 1985 classic Back to the Future. Seating is first come, first served, with plenty of Boardwalk treats nearby.
🌲✨ Also on Friday (8:30–10pm), see Roaring Camp’s redwood forest in a whole new light during Sequoia Lights, an immersive nighttime experience featuring 26 illuminated lanterns suspended about 50 feet above the ground. The 0.8-mile walking loop winds through the ancient forest beneath lanterns created by local artists, including Roaring Camp resident blacksmith Anna Bobisuthi and lighting designer Chris Butler. Tickets are $15.90–$26.50; children under 2 are free.
🎻 Then on Saturday, July 18 (7pm), Water Tower takes the Kuumbwa stage with its high-energy blend of old-time bluegrass and punk-rock spirit. The band has built a devoted following through performances at major festivals and, more unusually, busking alongside Southern California freeway off-ramps. Opening the show is Santa Cruz-based singer-songwriter JAM – Jeffrey A. Meyer – serving up his signature blend of bluesy funk rock alongside harmonica player Brad Kava. Doors open at 6:15pm.
⚽ On Sunday, July 19 (noon–2pm), the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History hosts a free watch party for the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, complete with complimentary popcorn and an all-ages art activity. And if two hours of cheering at a giant screen leaves you craving a little poetry, stick around: The Olive Tree, MAH’s monthly poetry open mic, begins at 2pm.
💛 That’s your week ahead. Now, here’s what’s making news.
News Highlights:
Santa Cruz Mountains Swimming Hole Rescue
Watsonville Camping Ban Displaces Unhoused Residents
Metro Board Weighs Half Cent Sales Tax Measure
Watsonville Battery Storage Project Application Deemed Incomplete
Candidate Filing Opens for More Than 100 Local Offices
Capitola Delays Community Center and Playground Opening
Nighttime Repaving of 41st Ave. in Capitola Continues
Plus the Aging of Santa Cruz, the Coolest Place in Town for Drinks, …and Much More!
TOP STORIES
Santa Cruz Mountains Swimming Hole Rescue
Lifeguards recently rescued an injured person from the water at the Garden of Eden, a popular swimming spot in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.
Watsonville Camping Ban Displaces Unhoused Residents
Watsonville’s newly approved ban on camping along the city’s sloughs, Pajaro River levee and downtown plaza is now moving into implementation.
Metro Board Weighs Half Cent Sales Tax Measure
The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District board is holding a meeting today (July 13) to decide whether to advance a proposed half-cent sales tax measure for the November ballot.
Watsonville Battery Storage Project Application Deemed Incomplete
State regulators have deemed New Leaf Energy’s application for a proposed $200 million battery storage facility in Watsonville incomplete, delaying the controversial project.
Candidate Filing Opens for More Than 100 Local Offices
The declaration-of-candidacy period opens Monday, July 13, for more than 100 city council, school board, fire district, water district and other local seats appearing on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Capitola Delays Community Center and Playground Opening
Construction delays have pushed the opening of Capitola’s renovated community center and new accessible playground to approximately mid-August.
Nighttime Repaving of 41st Ave. in Capitola Continues
Work to repave 41st Avenue in Capitola is scheduled to continue each night from July 13 through July 17.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Surprisingly, Santa Cruz has the fastest-growing senior population in the state.
Food writer Mark C. Anderson tells us The Hotel Bar (second floor, 200 Locust St., Santa Cruz) is one of the coolest libation settings in town, especially now that the kitchen is fully open.
Serving their slogan “restaurant-inspired chef-prepared meals at home,” Elite Meal Service is a food prep and delivery company co-owned by executive chef Brian Grebow and his wife, Bianca Harms.
Wellness writer Elizabeth Borelli asks, “instead of spending another foggy morning scrolling on the couch, why not lean into one of the season’s biggest wellness trends, taking your workout outdoors?”
WAIT, WHAT?! 🍬🍭🌌
The space between the stars just got a little sweeter. Astronomers have detected erythrulose – a type of sugar found in raspberries and self-tanners (a combination last seen coating the bottom of a beach bag after a very rough day) floating in a vast cloud of gas and dust near the center of the Milky Way. The discovery could help scientists better understand how sugars, which are among the key ingredients for life, form in space. Somewhere, an alien is thinking, “So THAT’S why the spaceship has been getting so sticky.”