Family Fun at the Pumpkin Farm!
Photo Credit: Peter Melton
Crystal Bay Farm
Crystal Bay Farm at 40 Zils Road, between Watsonville and La Selva Beach, has a great variety of pumpkins, squash, Halloween fun, farm animals and more — plus live music on the weekends! Owners Jeff and Lori Fiorovich got the farm certified organic in 1997 and offer u-pick crops in season. Information: crystalbayfarm.com. Open every day 10-6.
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Halloween Activities in and around Santa Cruz County
No Tricks or Treats At The Mall
Due to continuing COVID issues, the Capitola Mall will not be hosting trick or treating this year.
The mall is hosting a virtual costume contest with $50 gift cards as prizes. Visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ShopCapitolaMall for details.
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Business Decorating Contest
The Aptos Chamber of Commerce is getting in the spirit with a Halloween decorating contest for local businesses.
Entry fee is a $25 minimum donation. The prize is 6 months of chamber advertising worth $500. To sign up, call 831-688-1467 or go to www.aptoschamber.com. Community voting is online through Oct. 31
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October 19-31
Halloween Fun at the Wharf
The Santa Cruz Wharf will host 13 days of frightful fun. Great Pumpkin BINGO Hunt, snap a photo at scenic photo booth, and enjoy Wharf specials. Trick-o-Treating on the Wharf on Oct. 31 is from 3-6 p.m.
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October 19
Halloween Snack Demo
4-5 p.m., Zoom class
Chef Brandon Miller will demonstrate — on behalf of Everyone’s Harvest Farmers’ Markets — how to make healthy Halloween snacks.
These include veggie skeletons made of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cucumber, celery, bell pepper, black olives, sugar snap peas, and cherry tomatoes, mandarin pumpkins, ghost eggs and guacamole with avocado skull.
He will provid the fat, carb, fiber and protein counts for each snack.
Join Chef Brandon Miller at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89555496532?pwd=STJPam5abGVXbUZDN1lVZWluMEhnZz09
- Meeting ID: 895 5549 6532.
- Passcode: 300230
It’s free and open to everyone!
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October 21
Evergreen At Dusk: Cemetery History Tours
4 – 7 p.m., Evergreen Cemetery, 261 Evergreen St., Santa Cruz.
Evergreen Cemetery is one of the oldest public cemeteries in California. The 45-minute tour uncovers the stories and tombstones of the people who made Santa Cruz what it is today.
Upon arrival, find the MAH table near the iconic Evergreen Arch. We will give you the printed map and guide with a brief introduction to Evergreen.
Following the welcome, you are then free to follow the scavenger hunt like map and travel back in time uncovering the stories buried across the grounds. Go at your own pace and begin your adventure.
Self-guided group tour $5, private group tour $40. MAH museum members get a discount and tickets at EventBrite.com sell out fast.
The private guided tour is led by a MAH staffer at 6 p.m. Thursdays and available to two households per night.
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October 22-23 / 26-30
19th Annual Scotts Valley High Haunted House
This walk-though haunted experience is presented by students at Scotts Valley High School to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It’s recommended for children 10 and up plus adults.
The 2021 theme is: Camp Schmetterling. Tickets are $10 and are sold at the gate of the school, 555 Glenwood Drive, Scotts Valley — they are not sold in advance. Get inline early!
There could be wait of more than an hour to buy tickets. Questions can be emailed in advance to https://svhaunt.org/public/contact.html to be answered.
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October 23
Creepy Carnival at Laurel Park
Mask-making and a child-friendly Big Top Performance in Laurel Park in Santa Cruz. Free entry, 12-4 p.m. Big Top Performance at 2 p.m. FREE
Scarier version of Big Top show, not recommended for kids under 12, from 6-8 p.m., admission $5
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October 23-24
Glass Pumpkin Patch
Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Ave., Santa Cruz
The 2021 Live Oak Glass Pumpkin Patch is on! It takes place one weekend only, outdoors in the heirloom orchard of the Live Oak Grange, with plenty of fresh air and room for social distancing.
Come see the creative ideas that Chris Johnson and the team have come up with this year.
To preview his work, visit www.chrisjohnsonglass.com. Or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ClayandGlass.
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October 28
Family Costume Roller Party
The Downtown Association will host a Costume Roller Party on the parking lot roof deck located at the corner of Walnut Ave., Cedar and Church Streets in Santa Cruz.
Bring your own skates, blades, boards and scooters, plus beach chairs for comfort. No admission thanks to local sponsors.
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October 29
Halloween Horrors Film Competition
Check out films from local Santa Cruz filmmakers in the London Nelson Community Center’s Halloween Horrors Film Competition.
View films in the categories of Original Horror Short and Horror Film Scene Remake at nelsoncenter.com and click on the Halloween Experience link to view entries and vote for your favorites.
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October 29
Haunted Halloween at Cabrillo College
12:30 p.m., Samper Recital Hall
Be prepared for a spooky time in the Samper Recital Hall as all areas of the music department join forces to present our annual Haunted Halloween show.
Costumes recommended! Visit www.cabrillo.edu/vapa/2021-10-29-haunted-halloween/ for more information.
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October 29
Spookacular at the YMCA
5:30-8 p.m., Watsonville YMCA, 27 Sudden St, Watsonville
All locations of the Central Coast YMCA will offer chills and thrills during the Halloween season with its Spooktacular 2021 this October, including the Watsonville YMCA the Friday before Halloween.
Spooktacular events feature trick-or-treat stations, haunted house, arts & crafts, costume parade and more fun for the whole family, all free to the community.
For more information, call the Watsonville branch at (831) 728-9622 or go to centralcoastymca.org.
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October 30
Día de los Muertos Celebration
Evergreen Cemetery, 261 Evergreen St, Santa Cruz
The Día de los Muertos community celebration of traditional music, dance, and art at Evergreen Cemetery in Santa Cruz will take place all day.
There will be live performances by Senderos’ Centeotl Danza y Baile and Ensamble Musical de Senderos, altars honoring those buried at Evergreen Cemetery created by local community organizations and members.
If you wish to build an altar sharing your tradition and story of your loved one, you can do so.
Recordando Recuerdos translates to remembering memories and will be a community-sourced piece honoring life, death, and loss. This community piece began in 2020 as the pandemic crisis significantly more visible. It was a reminder of the power of collective mourning and care.
You are invited to share your story on a collaborative artwork made of vibrant colors with names of loved ones, objects, and moments lost that you wish to honor and remember.
Visit www.santacruzmah.org/events/diadelosmuertos-2021/2021/10/30 to learn
more and to fill out the forms to share your stories.
Recordando Recuerdos will be displayed at the Dia de los Muertos at Evergreen Cemetery on Oct. 30, then hung above the community ofrenda in the MAH atrium from Oct. 31-Nov. 4.
Contact Helen Aldana (they/them/theirs) at [email protected] or leave a voice message at 831.429.1964 ext. 7032 for a call back.
This event will be monitored by MAH staff so guests can comfortably browse the art safely and comfortably. Signage and markers will show designated paths and distance for a safe experience.
Do your part to keep these events safe by abiding by these guidelines and listening to MAH staffers. If you have questions about precautions being taken, email [email protected].
Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History: 705 Front St., Santa Cruz.
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October 31
SC Harbor Witches Annual Gathering
Grab your witches, ghouls, goblins, and come jump on an SUP board at the Santa Cruz Harbor and lets go scaring!
Join the SUP Shack for our 10th Annual Halloween Paddle, where we bewitch the locals and have general shenanigans on this witchly day at the Santa Cruz Harbor.
Get in touch with your inner witch — or gremlin — and have some fun.
$35 per person for 1 hour rental of the SUP. All proceeds will go to Second Harvest Food Bank. Feeding Santa Cruz! Call (831) 464-7467 for more info.