Quick Take
You made it through a harrowing 2025 and a half-decade of challenge. Now, put aside your fears of catastrophic climate change, the collapse of American democracy, and AI data centers stretching from sea to shining sea — for just a moment — and plan some fun in the year ahead.
As holidays go, New Year’s Day is an afterthought. It’s weirdly devoid of the rituals and customs associated with other holidays — no obligatory big family feast, no fireworks, no ugly sweaters, no exchanging of gifts. That means there are no distractions from the two primary purposes of New Year’s Day: to recover from the night before (or the year before), and to think about the future.
Of course, you’re free to choose to mull on the future that includes catastrophic climate change, the collapse of American democracy, and artificial intelligence data centers stretching from sea to shining sea. But today, we’re focused on a future not so panic-inducing, not so much “What is the fate of humankind?” and more “What can I look forward to in Santa Cruz County in 2026?”
I’ll assume you’ve already scoped out plans for the July 4 semiquincentennial, celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States of America. I mean, the buzz has been so intense, there’s no way this thing has snuck up on you, right?
Perhaps, the biggest two “local” events of 2026 will take place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, about 38 miles north of downtown Santa Cruz. (Yep, the home of the so-called San Francisco 49ers is in fact closer to Santa Cruz than it is to San Francisco. Go figure.)
The first big event is Super Bowl LX, to be played Feb. 8 at Levi’s. It is possible that the Niners will be playing in the big game, in which case the whole region could go bonkers in a way not seen since the Joe Montana 49ers won the Super Bowl at Stanford Stadium. (Ask your grandparents.) You might want to reserve your seat at your favorite sports bar right about now. If the Niners don’t make it, you might see out-of-towners in unfamiliar jerseys wandering Pacific Avenue that week. Either way, trolls and partisan hacks are likely to wring even more unnecessary culture-war drama out of the Bad Bunny-halftime-show situation, so the hype will probably storm into town like an atmospheric river.
Several months later, Levi’s will host an even bigger athletic event than the Super Bowl (which is blasphemy to many football-loving Americans). From mid-June to the beginning of July, Santa Clara will be the site for qualifying-round games for the FIFA World Cup, though there’s only a slight chance that Team USA will actually play in one of those games. So, if you’re interested in seeing a World Cup game live, get used to cheering for Paraguay or Algeria.
Closer to home, there is no more seamless transition between sports and entertainment than the Harlem Globetrotters, who come to Kaiser Permanente Arena in downtown Santa Cruz on Jan. 15.
On April 18, one of the most regal figures in Americana music, the great Emmylou Harris, plays live at the Santa Cruz Civic. One of the jazz world’s finest guitarists, Pat Metheny, comes to the Rio Theatre in a show presented by the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on May 3. Another true legend in American music, Booker T. Jones, plays back-to-back shows at the Kuumbwa on March 29. And there’s nothing that’ll make a Gen Xer feel older than the “45 Years of the Violent Femmes” tour, which rolls into the Civic on March 3. Up at the Quarry Amphitheater on the campus of UC Santa Cruz, the great Mexican American singer-songwriter Lila Downs comes for a visit March 6.
On the literary front, one of America’s most brilliant writers, George Saunders (“Lincoln in the Bardo”), comes to the Rio in an appearance hosted by Bookshop Santa Cruz, to talk about his new novel, “Vigil,” Feb. 3. Humorist David Sedaris returns to Santa Cruz, to read at the Civic on May 9. One of the nation’s leading food activists, Marion Nestle, comes to the Cowell Ranch Hay Barn on the campus of UC Santa Cruz as this year’s Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture keynote speaker Feb. 12.
The Santa Cruz Symphony culminates its 2025-26 season with two big weekend concerts — “Amadeus” on March 28-29, featuring Mozart’s immortal music along with dramatic narration from the title play; and the immense Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, on May 2-3. Concerts take place both weekends on Saturday night at the Civic Auditorium and Sunday afternoon at the Mello Center in Watsonville.
Santa Cruz Shakespeare continues its ambitions to conquer the calendar with a summer season featuring performances of two of William Shakespeare’s most enduring plays, the romance “Much Ado About Nothing” and the horror tragedy “Macbeth.” It will also stage August Wilson’s “Fences.” That will be followed by a fall season that features two productions: Noel Coward’s “Private Lives” and the musical “The Last Five Years” by Jason Robert Brown.
The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music has yet to announce its 2026 season, but it will take place again at the Santa Cruz Civic from July 26 to Aug. 9.
Over at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, tradition continues with the Clam Chowder Cook-Off on Feb. 21-22 and the Chili Cook-Off on Oct. 24.
In between those dates are all kinds of shows, concerts and performances at venues around the county from The Catalyst, to Moe’s Alley, to Felton Music Hall. For a wide-ranging but curated list of upcoming events, be sure to check out our Down the Line calendar.
Happy New Year!
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