THE TIDE REPORT
The Boardwalk is hosting a full-tackle exhibition football game and a 200-drone light show this weekend, which is a sentence we did not expect to write. Downtown is mid-restaurant-boom, Graham Hill is mid-paving, and the mayoral primary is three weeks out. Bring a jacket for the drone show — fog's likely after dark.
LOCAL NEWS
Downtown's Restaurant Wave Keeps Cresting Mane Kitchen, Luna's Borikén Bites, India Gourmet at Abbott Square, and the Alley Oop cocktail bar have all opened in the past couple months. Manresa Bread is targeting a late-spring opening on the same stretch. Luna's is the first stop — Puerto Rican mofongo and pernil, the kitchen run by a family that's been waiting years for a brick-and-mortar.
Cat & Cloud Workers Vote to Unionize Staff at the Pleasure Point and Westside roaster voted this month to unionize, joining a small but growing list of Bay Area coffee shops with organized workers. Co-founders Chris Baca, Jared Truby, and Charles Babinski put out a statement saying they welcomed it. The 41st Ave flagship and the Aldo's-adjacent Westside shop are running normal hours.
Five Candidates, Three Weeks Until the Mayoral Primary Lookout hosted a forum at the Hotel Paradox last week with all five candidates on stage. The June 2 primary narrows the field to two for the November runoff. The housing, public safety, and downtown vitality questions are where the field actually splits — worth watching the recordings if you missed it.
HAPPENINGS
★ = family-friendly
THURSDAY, MAY 14
Far West Fungi: Myco Mixer · 2–5 PM · 224 Laurel St, Downtown · Free Weekly mushroom-shop happy hour. Free bites, samples, cafe specials. Bring questions — the staff actually answer them.
Derek Gripper with Alam Khan · 7:30 PM · Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave · check ticket page South African classical guitar meets North Indian sarod. Khan is Ali Akbar Khan's son. Quiet, intricate, the kind of show the Rio does well.
Dylan Earl · 8 PM · Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton · check ticket page Arkansas country-rock songwriter. The Felton crowd will be into it.
FRIDAY, MAY 15
★ Skypark Food Truck Friday · 5–8 PM · 361 Kings Village Rd, Scotts Valley · Free The biggest food truck gathering in the county. Live music, kids everywhere. Park up by the dog park.
Goat Hill Fair Antique Show · Fri–Sat, daytime · SC County Fairgrounds, 2601 E Lake Ave, Watsonville · check ticket page Antique dealers from up and down the coast. Saturday is the busier day; Friday is for the diggers.
The Heavy Heavy · 8 PM · The Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave · check ticket page Brighton four-piece, '70s-leaning rock with strong harmonies. They've been touring hard this year.
Cornelia Murr · 8 PM · Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton · check ticket page Brooklyn songwriter, hushed and patient. Felton's the right room for it.
SATURDAY, MAY 16
★ Santa Cruz Beach Classic · All day, drone show after dark · Boardwalk, 400 Beach St · Free Free kids football camp during the day and a 200-drone light show over Main Beach after sunset. Park at the Wharf garage and walk over — Beach St will be locked up.
★ SC County History Fair · Daytime · London Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St, Downtown · Free Local historical societies, archives, oral history projects all in one room. Quietly one of the best free things to do in town.
Watsonville Wine, Beer & Art Walk · 1–5 PM · Downtown Watsonville · ~$40 Walking tasting through Main Street businesses. The Pajaro Valley Arts galleries are the underrated stop.
Valley Art Tour · Sat–Sun, daytime · San Lorenzo Valley · Free Self-guided studio tour through Felton, Ben Lomond, and Boulder Creek. Drive 9 north, hit five or six studios, get lunch at Tyrolean Inn.
★ CNPS Habitat Restoration · Morning · Santa Cruz County · Free California Native Plant Society volunteer day. Bring gloves, water, sturdy shoes. They feed you after.
Steely Dead · 8 PM · Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton · check ticket page Steely Dan and Grateful Dead mashup. We don't make the rules.
SUNDAY, MAY 17
★ Santa Cruz Beach Classic: Exhibition Game · Afternoon · Boardwalk, 400 Beach St · Free Full-tackle exhibition with Marshawn Lynch and DeShaun Foster coaching two pickup squads on the sand. It is free, it is strange, and it is the Boardwalk.
Bobby McFerrin: Circlesongs · 7 PM · Kuumbwa Jazz, 320 Cedar St, Downtown · check ticket page McFerrin, in his mid-seventies, doing the improvised vocal layering he invented, in a 200-seat room. If you can get in, get in.
Downtown SC Spring Wine Walk · 3–6 PM · Pacific Ave, Downtown · $40–$45 Twenty-plus downtown shops pour for the afternoon. Start at Bookshop's end and work south.
Cimafunk · 8 PM · Moe's Alley, 1535 Commercial Way · check ticket page Nine-piece Afro-Cuban band out of Havana. Moe's will be sweating by 9:30.
Willie Nile · 7:30 PM · Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton · check ticket page Veteran New York rock songwriter, still touring relentlessly at 77.
★ Makers Market on Pacific Ave · Daytime · Pacific Ave, Downtown · Free Local makers and craftspeople up and down Pacific. Good for gifts; bring cash.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT
Cat & Cloud — Pleasure Point & Westside
Chris Baca, Jared Truby, and Charles Babinski started Cat & Cloud in 2016 — two U.S. Brewers Cup champions and a longtime trainer, all with day jobs they kept until the coffee paid. The 41st Ave flagship is where everyone goes: small parking lot, a line out the door on Saturday mornings, regulars who know the baristas by name. The Westside shop sits across from Aldo's and gets the morning surf crowd. Last week the workers there voted to unionize, and the founders said they welcomed it. Order the cortado.
WEEKEND PICK
Bobby McFerrin Circlesongs at Kuumbwa — Sunday, May 17
McFerrin isn't touring much anymore, and Kuumbwa holds about 200 people. He doesn't bring a setlist — Circlesongs are built live, layering vocals with the audience, and no two shows are the same. Show up by 6:30 for street parking on Cedar or the church lot a block down. The kitchen's open if you want to make dinner of it.
WEEKLY
The stuff that's on every week — markets, music, standing plans.
Monday — Comedy Night at Abbott Square · 7–9 PM · 725 Front St, Downtown · Free Bay Area comics rotate in. Find a table, order a drink, settle in.
Tuesday — Felton Farmers Market · 1:30–5:30 PM · 120 Russell Ave, Felton Mountain market under the big trees. Runs through October 27.
Tuesday — Salsa Social at Abbott Square · 7–10 PM · 725 Front St, Downtown · Free Salsa, cumbia, merengue, bachata. All levels.
Wednesday — Downtown Santa Cruz Farmers Market · 12:30–5 PM · Cedar & Church, Downtown The big one. Show up around 3 when the crowds thin out.
Wednesday — Trivia at Front & Cooper · 6:30–8 PM · Abbott Square, 725 Front St, Downtown · Free Hugging Porcupines hosts. Cocktails and prizes.
Friday — Watsonville Farmers Market · 2–9 PM · Peck & Union, Downtown Watsonville The prepared food vendors are the move — come hungry.
Friday & Saturday — Live Band at Abbott Square · 7–10 PM · 725 Front St, Downtown · Free Rotating lineup, open garden, no cover.
Saturday — Westside Farmers Market · 9 AM–1 PM · Mission St Ext & Western Dr Runs rain or shine. The one with the coffee line.
Saturday — Aptos Farmers Market · 8 AM–Noon · Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Dr Year-round, nearly 90 vendors. Park in the upper lots.
Saturday — Scotts Valley Farmers Market · 8 AM–Noon · Boys & Girls Club, 5060 Scotts Valley Dr Runs through Nov 21.
Sunday — Live Oak Farmers Market · 9 AM–1 PM · 15th & East Cliff Dr Quiet neighborhood version of the Downtown market. Go before brunch.
BEFORE YOU GO
That's #007. If something's happening in Santa Cruz County that we should know about, tell us here or just reply to this email.
See you next Thursday.
— Low Tide Local