Parades and Parties
Municipalities around Santa Cruz County will pull out all the pageantry stops with their own hometown parades. An estimated 10,000 attendees will do the patriotic shuffle down Highway 9 between Scarborough Lumber and Railroad Avenue in Boulder Creek (10am, meet at Flat St and Hwy 9, Boulder Creek). The “Spirit of Watsonville” will be on display during a parade down Main Street, followed by the dedication of a new flag at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds by Boy Scout Troop 599 and the Freedom Rotary Club (2pm, Main Street, Watsonville, 831.768.3266). The 50th anniversary of the Guinness Record-certified World’s Shortest Parade will feature classic cars from the ’60s and ’70s cruising down Soquel Drive in Aptos, preceded by a pancake breakfast and followed by a party at Aptos Village Park (7:30am-4pm, 100 Aptos Creek Rd, Aptos, 831.688.1467). A parade along Scotts Valley Drive will be followed by a festival featuring food, games and fireworks (3pm-10pm. Skypark, 361 King’s Village Rd, Scotts Valley 831.438.3251. $6 adv/$8 gate).
Ye Good Olde Tymes
Wilder Ranch will celebrate the nation’s founding by going back to the early days of its own, at the turn of the 20th century. Festivities will include historic lawn games, draft horse wagon rides, ice cream cranking, a cakewalk, crafts and live music of the time (Wilder Ranch State Park, 1401 Coast Rd, Santa Cruz, 831.426.0505. 11am-4pm. Free). Roaring Camp, meanwhile, will channel a different era altogether with a sock hop, hula contests, sack races, a balloon toss and a (slightly anachronistic) steam train hold up (Sat, Jul 2-Mon, Jul 4. Roaring Camp, Narrow Gauge Railroad, Graham Hill and Mount Herman Road, Felton, 831.335.4484. $24 adult/$17 children). Over in Boulder Creek, Lumberjack Days will get underway with displays of axe throwing and chainsaw skills, plus log rolling, vintage saws and barbecue to boot (Sun, Jul 3-Mon, Jul 4, 11am-5pm. Downtown Boulder Creek, 831.338.6833. Free).
Sporting
For those looking for a little exercise to punctuate all the barbecuing and binge drinking, there will be two footraces this holiday weekend. The 19th Annual Skyland Mountain Run takes place on Saturday; the 5K and 10K courses chart through gently rolling hills, and there will be live Zydeco music at the event (Sat, Jul 2, 8:30am. Radonich Ranch, 25240 Highland Way, Los Gatos. SkylandRun.com $25-$13 adv/$35-$15 race day). The Firecracker 5 and 10K course begins at Harvey West Park and winds its way up through the hills of Pogonip park before descending back down through Santa Cruz’s upper Westside neighborhoods (Mon Jul 4, registration 7am, races 8 and 8:30am. Harvey West Park, 326 Evergreen St, Santa Cruz. $35 adults 5K and 10K/$15 kids 1K)/
And earlier Independence Day weekend…
The Bigfoot Benefeet, a series of benefit shows to raise awareness of forest conservation and funds for the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton, will consist of three concerts and one barbecue-slash-concert (July 1, 8pm concert at the Blue Lagoon; July 2, 1pm BBQ and concert at the Bigfoot Discovery Museum and 8pm concert at The Crepe Place; July 3, 8pm concert at The Jury Room. Jul 1-3. $25 adv for all shows & BBQ. 831.331.3174 or BigfootDiscoveryProject.com). The second annual Hop and Barley Festival will feature libations from 30 brewers, including six local ones: Boulder Creek Brewery, Santa Cruz Ale Works, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Seabright Brewing, Uncommon Brewing and Corralitos Brewing (Sat, Jul 2, 11:30am-4:30pm. Skypark, 361 King’s Village Rd, Scotts Valley. $25 adv/$30 door. 831.713.9813).
