Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Summer Proper
Santa Cruz County · June 23, 2026
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Good Morning friends.
As we set off for our son's first Jr Guards competition today, we are so thankful to call this place home and for this special community. Consider l.t.l. our 'thank you' to Santa Cruz.
We also appreciate all your suggestions and event submissions. I know there's some emails we haven't gotten to yet but we're working on it.
With that out of the way, let's dolphin-dive in…
The solstice came and went Saturday, and summer settles into its rhythm. The water nudged up to 61, and the calendar fills up: a 30th-year classic-car show on the Wharf, the Pleasure Point street fair, & twilight concerts around SC.
A lot of this issue came from your event-form submissions again. Keep them coming.
CONDITIONS · TUESDAY, JUNE 23
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Classic June all week: marine layer overnight, fog gone by 8, mostly sunny low-70s afternoons. The surf is building back up: three to four feet today and four to five tomorrow, a NW windswell with a long-period south swell filling in underneath. The water temp is up to about 61°F, a full 3/2 is what I'd choose. Tides are mellow too, no dawn minus tides this week, just a 1.7-foot low near noon today, so the mornings will be more about coffee shops than tide pools.
The blue whales did not leave. June 19 boats out of Monterey logged 10 to 13 of them in a single trip, still here for the spring krill, alongside humpbacks, fin whales, a sperm whale the crews call Fig, and dolphin pods in the thousands!
Monterey Bay Whale Watch posts the photos on Facebook and keeps a running sightings log.
As we mentioned, the olallieberries aren't happening this year, and the short Gizdich boysenberry window has come and gone.
Strawberries are the bright spot. They are prime at every farmers market right now, and the first apricots, cherries, and early peaches are landing too. If you want to pick your own, Crystal Bay Farm in Watsonville runs U-pick strawberries Wednesdays and Sundays, noon to 5, at $8 a pound plus $2 to get in. 40 Zils Road, between Aptos and Watsonville.
A boulder broke off into the lineup at Steamer Lane
Around 7:30 Monday morning another chunk of the Westside cliff gave way at Steamer Lane and dropped into the water with surfers still in the lineup. No one was hurt, but the bluff is unstable and there are fresh boulders in the surf, so the city has signs up behind the lighthouse telling people to keep back. The Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve is watching whether the wave itself changes. Please stay safe.
The Aptos Farmers Market turns 50
The Saturday market at Cabrillo College, the biggest of the Monterey Bay markets with about 90 vendor families, just hit 50 years. The stories behind the stalls are the good part: a flower-growing family, a former opera singer turned beekeeper, a French pastry chef. Saturdays, 8 to noon.
H&H Fresh Seafood opens a Westside shop
The harbor fish purveyor opened a second spot at 402 Ingalls St, Suite 15, with poke bowls, oysters, local rock crab, and grab-and-go for the cooler. Soft-launch hours are 11 AM to 6 PM Wednesday and Thursday, later on weekends, closed Monday and Tuesday.
Dungeons & Dragons has quietly taken over the libraries
A monthly tabletop game night runs at the Capitola, Santa Cruz, and Watsonville library branches, open to adults of any experience level. The volunteer who built it over four years is handing the dice off to the next crew as she moves to Portugal.
For the visual people, we put l.t.l. on a map. View Mo's Map to see what is happening near you, plus the markets and the weekend's sales.
Garage sales get refreshed every Friday with the weekend's garage/yard, estate, and moving sales, so you can plot your Saturday route before you leave the house. Know of one? Submit it here.
Road closures, current and upcoming, the Murray St bridge included. Plus happenings, music, and the spots we send people to, all in one place. Tell us what you think:
★ = family-friendly
TUESDAY, JUNE 23
★ Tuesday Night Live: The Unauthorized Rolling Stones · 6–8 PM · Wharf Commons, Santa Cruz Wharf · Free
The free summer Wharf series picks back up with a Stones tribute. Bring a low chair, parking validates for two hours.
Uncle Lucius at Felton Music Hall · 8 PM, doors 7 · 6275 Hwy 9, Felton · Ticketed (21+)
Uncle Lucius brings their 20th-anniversary tour up the hill, Texas Southern-rock churn and all.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24
★ Capitola Twilight Concerts: Coffee Zombie Collective · 6–8 PM · Esplanade Park, Capitola Village · Free
Coffee Zombie Collective plays the free Wednesday series on the water, Americana reworks of songs you know. Bring a low chair.
★ Cayuga Jazz Band at The Crepe Place · 5:30–7:30 PM · 1134 Soquel Ave, Seabright · Free
Swing, standards, bebop, and bossa nova on the back garden stage, dinner alongside.
Western Wednesday: Mae McCoy & Her Neon Stars · 7:30 PM · Moe's Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Live Oak · $18 (21+)
Honky-tonk night at Moe's, with Mark Holzinger opening.
★ ⚽ World Soccer Celebration: Mexico vs Czechia · 6 PM, Mariachi Santa Cruz at 4:30 · Coasters Bar & Grill, Beach Boardwalk · Free
The Boardwalk's five-day World Cup run kicks off at Coasters with tacos, drink specials, and a free watch party. First-come seating.
THURSDAY, JUNE 25
★ Crow's Nest Beach BBQ: Cake by the Ocean · 5:30–8 PM · Santa Cruz Harbor Beach, Twin Lakes · Free
The Thursday beach party, band on the sand. Free water taxi runs 5 to 9 PM, parking's tight, so take it.
★ ⚽ World Soccer Celebration: USA vs Türkiye · 7 PM · Main Beach, Beach Boardwalk · Free
The week's biggest watch party, on a giant LED screen on the sand in front of the Colonnade, with a beer garden. Get there early and bring a blanket.
Bargetto Winery: The Joint Chiefs · 6–8 PM · 3535 N Main St, Soquel · Free entry
The Joint Chiefs play the creekside courtyard, wine by the glass.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
★ Midtown Fridays · 5–8:30 PM · 1111 Soquel Ave, Midtown · Free
The summer block party rolls on, food trucks and vendors and a band in the lot.
★ Movie on the Beach: Kicking & Screaming · 9 PM · Beach Boardwalk · Free
The weekly free movie on the sand in front of the Colonnade. Bring a blanket and something warm, the fog comes back at night.
★ Skypark Food Truck Friday · 5–8 PM · Skypark, 361 Kings Village Rd, Scotts Valley · Free
Rotating food trucks on the Skypark lawn, room for the kids to run.
★ ⚽ World Soccer Celebration: Uruguay vs Spain · 5 PM · Coasters Bar & Grill, Beach Boardwalk · Free
Another watch party at Coasters with tacos and drink specials, plus the match up around Boardwalk Bowl. First-come seating.
SATURDAY, JUNE 27
★ Woodies on the Wharf · 10 AM–3:30 PM · Santa Cruz Wharf · Free
The 30th year of the woodie show takes over the Wharf, one of the biggest wooden-car gatherings in the country, with a kids' scavenger hunt and a parade off the planks at 3:30.
★ Pleasure Point Street Fair · 11 AM–5 PM · Portola Dr, Pleasure Point · Free
The neighborhood street fair returns to Portola. Full rundown in the Weekend Pick below.
★ Henry Cowell Redwood Grove Walk · 12–1:30 PM · 101 N Big Trees Park Rd, Felton · Free, $10 parking
A docent-led loop through the old-growth grove, easy and shaded.
The Lagoons at Felton Music Hall · 8 PM, doors 7 · 6275 Hwy 9, Felton · Ticketed (21+)
The Lagoons, the LA surf-rock duo, up in the redwoods.
★ ⚽ World Soccer Celebration: Footvolley on Main Beach · 12–2 PM · Main Beach, Beach Boardwalk · Free
Leah Morales, the top-ranked US women's footvolley player, runs exhibition matches on the sand, with a youth skills session at 1:30.
SUNDAY, JUNE 28
★ ⚽ World Soccer Celebration: Beach Soccer on Main Beach · 12–2 PM · Main Beach, Beach Boardwalk · Free
Members of the US Beach Soccer National Team play an exhibition on the sand, with a youth skills session at 1:30.
LOOKING AHEAD
★ Aptos World's Shortest Parade · Sat July 4, 10 AM · Soquel Dr & State Park Dr, Aptos · Free
The county's signature Fourth: a six-tenths-of-a-mile parade, then Party in the Park at Aptos Village Park, noon to 4.
Davenport Roadhouse · 1 Davenport Ave, Davenport
The Roadhouse out at Davenport has a new chef worth the drive up Highway 1. Jessie Curran came down from San Francisco, where she cooked at the Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions and The Anchovy Bar, and she's rebuilt the menu around California comfort food: steamed clams, gem salads, a smash burger people are already talking about.
Make it the turnaround on a coast run, grab a window table, and watch the fog work the water. The rooms upstairs got redone too, if you want to make a night of it.
Pleasure Point Street Fair · Saturday, June 27
The street fair takes over Portola Drive between 38th and 41st on Saturday, 11 AM to 5 PM, and it's about as Pleasure Point as a day gets. More than 100 vendor booths, a kid zone, live music in the beer garden, and a free bike valet so you can pedal over and skip the parking circus.
It's a fundraiser for the Live Oak Educational Foundation, so the funnel cake is doing good work. Bring cash, bring the dog, bring the kids. Guaranteed to be a good time.
The markets and standing plans that run every week.
Tuesday: Felton Farmers Market · 1:30 to 5:30 PM · 120 Russell Ave, Felton
Wednesday: Downtown Santa Cruz Farmers Market · 12:30 to 5 PM · Cedar and Church, Downtown
Thursday: Boulder Creek Farmers Market · 1:30 to 6:30 PM · Junction Park, Boulder Creek
Friday: Watsonville Farmers Market · 2 to 9 PM · Peck and Union, Downtown Watsonville
Friday and Saturday: Live Band at Abbott Square · 7 to 10 PM · 725 Front St, Downtown · Free
Saturday: Westside Farmers Market · 9 AM to 1 PM · Mission St Ext and Western Dr
Saturday: Aptos Farmers Market · 8 AM to Noon · Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Dr
Saturday: Scotts Valley Farmers Market · 8 AM to Noon · Graham Plaza, 219 Mount Hermon Rd
Sunday: Live Oak Farmers Market · 9 AM to 1 PM · 15th and East Cliff Dr
Sunday: Humble Sea Brewing · Noon to 6:30 PM · 820 Swift St, Westside · Free entry
Fog beer and fish and chips in the beer garden. Dog and kid friendly, Saturdays too.
If you know someone who would like this, send them your referral link below. Refer 7 friends and we will buy you a coffee at Verve.
If something in here sounds good, go. Tell a neighbor. And if you heard about something happening in the county that we should cover, hit reply or send it here.
See you next Tuesday. 🌊
Low Tide Local