Sometimes I wonder if a town can have too much culture. For a city of 60,000 people and a county of less than 300,000, we have more things to do on any given week than the city over the hill of a million or so people.
We’ve got more plays, live music, poetry, comedy and lectures than almost any place I’ve been.
Sometimes I wonder how our local artists survive with so much competition. On any day or night you can find stellar entertainment around the county, either national or local artists. If there’s one shortcoming, it’s that we don’t have as many top-tier national artists as we used to.
The Civic used to have a full lineup with the likes of Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Shakti and more, but its offerings are much smaller now.
Except, that is, for the Santa Cruz Symphony and the upcoming Cabrillo Festival of New Music, which has two weeks of internationally known avant-garde classical music at the end of July into August. (Look for our cover story on it coming soon.)
And we keep adding events. Downtown Santa Cruz has a new Thursday night music offering at the site of the new farmers market; it also has a Tuesday night series on the Wharf and last Saturday it added a concert series at the Lighthouse that was blissfully packed. There’s also the Friday Midtown Festival, which draws a full house for local artists.
I think the city is moving in the right direction by bringing more entertainment and I think they are planning for the future. People in all those new housing developments downtown are going to need something to do.
In our cover story, Santa Cruz Shakespeare artistic director Charles Pasternak is buoyant with optimism for our arts scene.
“I really do believe in a town like this a rising tide lifts all boats,” he tells Christina Waters. “If our musical does well, it will only excite more of our audience to go check out Cabrillo Stage, and perhaps for their audience that loves what they do and hasn’t been much interested in Shakespeare, offering them something musical will perhaps bring them into our theater. So I do not see any competition or negativity.”
All that entertainment has helped keep this publication running for 50 years and we want to share it with you. Friday from 4-7pm we have some great up-and-coming local bands performing outside our building at 107 Dakota Ave. It’s free. Here’s a link to an invite, which will help us know how many goodie bags to make and will show you our lineup. caltix.com/e/goodtimes-50year-anniversary-party
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
THE LIFEGUARD Taken at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Photograph by Tatiana Lyulkin
GOOD IDEA
In connection to the MAH exhibition HOWL: The Art & History of Pets, the Santa Cruz SPCA is sponsoring a canine fashion show 3–5pm Sunday at the Museum of Art & History that will showcase adorable adoptable pups prancing down the runway in head-turning canine couture. Admission is included with the $8 museum entry fee or you can purchase a VIP pass for $45 that includes adult beverages and front-row seats. There’s a great silent auction with too many local businesses to mention to benefit the shelter. Advanced tickets are available at Eventbrite.
GOOD WORK
Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired announces the grand opening of its new office in Santa Cruz, marking a major milestone in its ongoing commitment to serve individuals with vision loss across the Central Coast. To commemorate this expansion, Vista Center will host a Ribbon Cutting & Networking July 31, 5:30–7:30pm, with the official ceremony beginning at 6:15pm.
The event welcomes funders, donors, elected officials and community members to tour the new facility, enjoy light refreshments, and connect with local professionals and community leaders.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
‘Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.’ –Winston Churchill
