By Jondi Gumz
With the state giving the all-clear sign to small outdoor events, the Capitola City Council on June 24 agreed to restart the popular series “Twilight Concerts” featuring live music at the Esplanade bandstand on Wednesdays.
Attendees are welcome to bring a picnic dinner or buy dinner at one of the restaurants nearby in Capitola Village.
Here is the 2021 schedule:
- July 14: Extra Large, playing rock and funky funk
- July 21: Joint Chiefs, playing soul and funk
- Aug. 4: Mike Hammar & the Nails, playing blues
- Aug. 11: Tsunami, playing classic rock/R&B, dance
- Aug. 18: Everyday People, playing classic Latin rock
- Aug. 25: Beggar Kings, playing Rolling Stones/dance music
- Sept. 1: Digbeats, playing classic rock.
“The bands really want to play,” said Larry Laurent, assistant to the city manager.
Also approved: the city-sponsored Art & Music at the Beach for three Sundays in July and August — July 18 and Aug. 1 and 15 — and the city-sponsored Movies at the Beach on two Friday nights, Sept. 10 and 17. Look for more details at www.cityofcapitola.org/acc/page/sunday-art-music-beach-2021 All of these events were cancelled by COVID safety restrictions last year.
The city has included $19,000 in the 2021-22 budget to make these events happen.
A special event permit is expected to be approved for the new Agility Tribe, a new climbing gym on 38th Avenue anticipating 150 guests for its soft opening July 10.
Other special events approved June 24 by the City Council are:
- Capitola Beach Festival, Sept. 25-26, attracting 3,500 people to the Nautical Parade event and 50-150 at the other activities.
- Women on Waves surfing event Oct. 9, which is expected to attract 250 participants.
- Monte Foundation Fireworks Oct. 10 (the day before the holiday of Columbus Day) attracting 5,000 to 7,000 people to Capitola Village.
The Capitola Art & Wine Festival, which each year attracts more than 25,000 attendees over two days, qualifies as a “mega-event” under state guidelines that defines mega events as those attracting more than 10,000 people. The organizer, the Capitola-Soquel Chamber of Commerce, is expected to apply for Sept. 11-12, but no one from that group or the public at large had a comment.
Asked whether attendees will be required to wear masks, city Manager Jamie Goldstein said, the city staff would have to work with event organizers to make sure the Art & Wine Festival complies with relevant restrictions.
City Police Chief Terry McManus said there’s no way to limit attendance at the events but agreed that having a command center in the right place helps in managing resources.
The vote to authorize the summer events was unanimous.
The county reports 464 COVID cases in Capitola since the pandemic broke out a year ago, 2.9% of the 16,262 known cases in the county, and it’s unknown how many of the 59 active cases are in Capitola.
Dr. Gail Newel, the Santa Cruz County health officer, is concerned about spread from visitors with counties with more variants that spread easily. In Santa Cruz, 79 percent of spread has been person-to-person in a household.