What is your favorite Santa Cruz holiday tradition?
SantaCon at Abbott Square on December’s First Friday. Jive Machine performed and there were hundreds of Santas. And the Lighted Boat Parade at the harbor is great—nighttime, people and families. This is what I love about Santa Cruz!
Ken Norton, 59, Audiologist/Musician
The Downtown Holiday Street Parade, that was great. Last night I missed the Boat Parade, but I really wanted to go. That’s something I’m looking forward to next year.
Rebecca Wright, 26, Barista @ Verve on Pacific
We live in Felton next to Roaring Camp and we do the Holiday Train—religiously—every year. They have the fake snow, Santas singing carols, and candy canes.
Dennis Patton, 54, Therapist
We’ve been riding the Holiday Lights Train since we were kids, then teenagers, and we still do it as a family every year. The other thing we like to do is the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds Holiday Lights in Watsonville.
Judy Patton, 46, Therapist
The one cool thing we do is Farley’s Christmas Wonderland house with a lot of the Santa’s Village decorations where you can actually walk through.
Jesse Tabar, 44, Santa Cruz School District
The lights at the Santa Cruz County Fair, the drive-through lights. It’s a newer tradition, but we always look forward to doing it to support the Fair. They started during Covid to keep the Fair going. Every year it gets better and better.
Micah Raburn, 30, Retail
