Things to Do in Santa Cruz This Weekend | August 14–16, 2026
What’s Happening in Santa Cruz This Weekend
Live music after sunset, strawberries straight from the field, art and wine in the mountains, local makers downtown and one very good excuse to ride a 102-year-old roller coaster.
We are deep enough into August that summer has stopped asking permission. The evenings are warm, the calendar is full, and Santa Cruz is giving us exactly what it does best: music spilling outside, farmers handing you something that was in the ground five minutes ago, art under the redwoods and the Pacific waiting at the bottom of nearly every street.
If you’re wondering what to do around Santa Cruz this weekend, here are a few things actually worth leaving the house for.
Start Somewhere With Music
Midtown Fridays Summer Block Party
Midtown Fridays is one of those summer rituals that makes Santa Cruz feel wonderfully small in the best possible way. Grab something from a food truck, wander through local makers and vendors, find someone you know without planning to, and stay for the music.
This Friday’s band is Fire Peach. The weekly block party is free and runs through the end of August.
Event Details
Afrolicious + Papiba & Friends at Moe’s Alley
If Friday calls for something sweatier than dinner and a glass of wine, head to Moe’s. Bay Area funk-fusion collective Afrolicious takes over the room with Papiba & Friends.
Advance tickets are listed at $20, with $25 tickets available day-of, subject to availability.
Tickets + DetailsPick Strawberries, Buy Art, Stay Out Late
UCSC Farm U-Pick
There are Saturday mornings, and then there are Saturday mornings spent wandering through the UCSC Farm with the ocean somewhere beyond the fields.
The Center for Agroecology is hosting one of its summer U-Pick events, inviting visitors onto the farm for seasonal picking. It’s simple, sweet and exactly the kind of thing I want summer to be made of.
UCSC Farm Details
Scotts Valley Art, Wine & Beer Festival
More than 100 artists, local wine and beer, food trucks, live music and an entire weekend stretched across Skypark. This is one of the bigger events happening around Santa Cruz this weekend and an easy choice if you want somewhere you can wander without much of a plan.
Saturday also includes the Cops ’N Rodders Car Show, while Sunday brings Dog Day. The 2026 music lineup includes Cody Jarvis, Paperback Ryders, The Shady Rest Band and SambaDá on Saturday.
Festival Details
Make Saturday a two-act situation.
Go to the farm in the morning. Come home sun-warmed and vaguely pleased with yourself. Take a shower, put on something good, and go hear live music at night.
Ani DiFranco with Valerie June
Ani DiFranco brings the Spirit of Love Tour to the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium with special guest Valerie June. For anyone craving an actual Saturday-night concert instead of background music over dinner, this is one of the weekend’s marquee shows.
Tickets + DetailsSNAIL at the Rio
Another Saturday-night option, this time at the Rio. Santa Cruz rock band SNAIL takes the stage for a hometown show from 8 to 10 PM.
Show DetailsEl Sol Salsa & Latin Music Dance Night
Or forget sitting down altogether. Moe’s Alley is hosting El Sol Saturday night with a dance lesson before the live show.
Advance admission is listed at $15, or $20 day-of.
Tickets + DetailsShop Local, Ride the Dipper, Find the Ocean
Santa Cruz Makers Market
More than 40 local artisans and makers take over Pacific Avenue on Sunday. Think jewelry, art, handmade goods, ceramics and the particular pleasure of buying something directly from the person who made it.
Pair it with coffee downtown, wander without urgency and eventually keep walking toward the water.
Market DetailsNational Roller Coaster Day at the Boardwalk
Here is your perfectly reasonable excuse to ride the Giant Dipper on a Sunday morning: it’s National Roller Coaster Day.
The first 100 riders on the historic Giant Dipper will receive a Boardwalk souvenir cup. Normal ride pricing and restrictions apply.
Frankly, there are worse ways to spend an August Sunday than screaming over the top of a wooden roller coaster with the Pacific flashing beside you.
Boardwalk Details
The Blues Project at Moe’s Alley
If Sunday afternoon needs guitars instead of errands, legendary ’60s group The Blues Project lands at Moe’s Alley behind their latest live release.
Tickets are listed at $25 in advance and $30 day-of.
Tickets + DetailsChoose Your Own Santa Cruz Weekend
Midtown Fridays, the Scotts Valley Art, Wine & Beer Festival or the Santa Cruz Makers Market.
Wander the art and wine festival in the afternoon, then Ani DiFranco at the Civic.
Afrolicious Friday or El Sol at Moe’s Alley Saturday.
Pick something at the UCSC Farm, walk Pacific Avenue and ride the Giant Dipper.
Pick one thing. Stay longer than you planned. Get food afterward. Watch the sunset somewhere.