Here’s how I know summer has really begun: meat on a stick. When kabobs start making regular appearances on my weekends, I know I’ve got myself a festival season. From now until Labor Day, almost every single weekend offers a chance to mill about with other locals appreciating something or other: music, cars, men with muskets. It’s a good time to be alive and wearing one of those little bracelets for wine.
Santa Cruz Blues Festival (May 28-29)
This year’s annual tribute to the mighty musical form that is the blues includes Experience Hendrix on Saturday, with a dozen blues and rock musicians performing the music of Jimi Hendrix; and Boz Scaggs, Tower of Power and Tommy Castro on Sunday. Aptos Village Park (park at Cabrillo College). $65 day/$120 two days.
30th Annual Civil War Battles & Encampment (May 28-30)
The blue and the gray skirmish in redwood-ringed meadows in one of the longest-running Civil War reenactments in the West. Roaring Camp, Felton. $5.
Bonny Doon Art & Wine Festival (June 4)
The ninth annual Bonny Doon Art & Wine Festival will have unlimited wine tasting (yep, we said “unlimited”), fine art by local and international artists, demos, raffles, live jazz and a live and silent auction. Bonny Doon Airport. $40.
Redwood Mountain Faire (June 4-5)
After a long hiatus, the San Lorenzo Valley’s original summer music fest returned last year with a bang. This year it expands to two days with a stellar lineup that includes Peter Rowan, Lacy J. Dalton, Moonalice, SambaDa, the Coffis Brothers, Who’s Holdin’ and many more bands with Santa Cruz connections. Roaring Camp, Felton. $18 adv/$20 gate.
Capitola Rod and Custom Classic Car Show (June 11-12)
Bitchen jalopies in the Village. Capitola-by-the-Sea. Free.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Friday Night Concerts (June 17-Sept 2)
Every Friday night throughout the summer the Boardwalk presents perennial favorites like Starship starring Mickey Thomas, The Family Stone, Loverboy, Gin Blossoms, Berlin and Gregg Rolie, original lead singer of Santana. Beach Boardwalk stage. For schedule check these pages or visit www.beachboardwalk.com. Free.
Japanese Cultural Fair (June 18)
It’s the 25th anniversary of the Japanese Culture Fair this year. Festivities include raffle drawings, martial arts demos, tea ceremonies and many other workshops. Santa Cruz Mission Plaza. Free.
Juneteenth (June 18)
Crafts, music and speakers celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation, which came forth on June 19, 1865. Louden Nelson Center, Santa Cruz. Free.
Loch Lomond Highland Games & Scottish Renaissance Festival (June 18-19)
Go where they toss the caber and down the haggis (and raise pints and dance jigs), all while wearing kilts and capes and such: that would be the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, Watsonville. $13/day or $24/two days.
Monterey Bay Blues Festival (June 24-26)
The 26th annual Monterey Bay Blues festival takes place at Monterey County Fairgrounds on three stages with a lineup that includes Mavis Staples, Bobby Rush, Millie Jackson, Ruthie Foster, Dazz Band and Charlie Jene. For schedule visit www.montereyblues.com. Tickets from $25/day to $85/all three.
Woodies on the Wharf (June 25)
More than 200 wooden-bodied cars on display on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Free.
Bikes on The Bay (June 26)
Vintage motorcycle show with hundreds of pre-1985 American, British, European and Japanese motorcycles and scooters. Capitola Mall. Free.
Fourth of July at Roaring Camp (July 2-4)
Hula-hoop contests, games, barbecue and Great Train Robberies on the Roaring Camp Steam Trains. Roaring Camp, Felton.
Festival de Nopal (July 24)
Food, live music, folkloric dancing and arts & crafts, all in celebration of the cactus. Church Street, downtown Santa Cruz. Free.
Wharf to Wharf (July 24)
A bigger deal there could not be in our fair city—15,000 runners compete in the 6–mile run from the Santa Cruz Wharf to the pier in Capitola, with a festive atmosphere lining the route. Free for spectators.
Monterey Bay Reggae Festival (July 29-31)
Check www.mbayreggaefest.net for lineup. Monterey County Fairgrounds. Tickets from $25/single day to $85/all three.
Watsonville Strawberry Festival (Aug 6-7)
Located in historic downtown Watsonville, this fest offers live bands, great foods and fun, plus a new reason to consider going into competitive eating: strawberry pie-eating contests. Main Street Plaza, Watsonville. Free.
Cabrillo Music, Food, Art and Wine Festival (Aug 6-7)
Live music from countries all over the world, and Kettle Corn too. Ballet performances, modern, hip-hop and traditional dances on the Church Street Stage while the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music goes on inside the Civic. Church Street, downtown Santa Cruz. Free.
World Disc Golf Championships (Aug 9-13)
The finest folfers fight for first. At UCSC, DeLaveaga and Pinto Lake disc golf courses. Free.
Scotts Valley Art & Wine Festival (Aug 13-14)
Great food, live entertainment, wine and beer tasting. More than 100 artists’ work will be displayed. Skypark, Scotts Valley. Free.
Summer Gathering of Mountain Men (Aug 13-14)
Mountain men practice manly skills and rough it out in pre-Goretech style in honor of Isaac Graham, who settled the area in the 1830s. Roaring Camp, Felton.
Musical Saw Festival (Aug 13-14)
Saw players from all over the world come to this annual event. Live events, contests, and an acoustic jam near the bronze statue of saw-playing legend Tom Scribner in downtown Santa Cruz. Most events at Roaring Camp, Felton. Free.
Aloha Outrigger Races & Polynesian Festival (Aug 21)
The festival of island culture hits the wharf. Hula dancing, slack key guitar, outrigger races, Hawaiian laulau and poi. Santa Cruz Wharf. Free.
Capitola Begonia Festival (Sept 2-5)
This festival is packed with events: live dance performances by local artists, sand sculpture contests, float viewing, chalk on the seawall, fishing derby and concerts in the park all weekend. Stockton Avenue, Capitola. Free.
Blake Ciao contributed to this article.
