A weekly guide to what’s happening
Green Fix 1/10
46th Annual Fungus Fair
Santa Cruz might just be the fungi-est place on the Central Coast, and some wait all year for this shroomy event. The annual Santa Cruz Fungus Fair boasts speakers and specialists, cooking workshops and of course, hundreds of prime fungus specimens. Don’t go eating any old side-of-the-road mushrooms—the fair’s taxonomy panel will help you classify different types of fungi and pick the prime specimens. This year’s theme is “mushrooms and medicine,” and the event list includes lectures about psilocybin mushrooms, the medicinal properties of ancient and exotic fungi, and how hallucinogens can make the world a better place.
INFO: 2-9pm on Friday, Jan. 10; 10am-5pm on Sunday, Jan. 12. Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz. ffsc.us. $10 general/$5 students or seniors.
Art Seen 1/11
Pine-Needle Basket-Making
Join docent Cheryl VanDeVeer in learning how to make a woven basket from local Ponderosa pine needles. No experience is necessary, though expert pine-needle basket weavers are welcome to join. Children 10 and older may attend if accompanied by an adult. Get there early; the class capacity is 20 and may fill up. Meet at the visitor center.
INFO: 10am-noon. Saturday, Jan. 11. Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, 101 N Big Trees Park Rd., Felton. 335-7077. Free/vehicle day-use fee $10.
Sunday 1/12
15th Annual Harp Festival
Known as the world’s most ancient stringed instrument, the harp has inspired audiences all over the globe for thousands of years. Santa Cruz Harp Festival celebrates the many forms of the harp and its musical traditions, with a matinee concert featuring soloists Jennifer Cass and a Harp Quartet of her pedal harp students. There will also be an instrument “petting zoo” at intermission for the harp-curious.
INFO: 2pm. St. Philips Episcopal Church, 5271 Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley.
Saturday 1/11
Westside-Minster Dog Show
Calling all pet parents! Think your pup has what it takes to take home the gold? Humble Sea’s annual “Westside Minster Dog Show” brings Westminster across the country and lets all of Santa Cruz’s paw-fect pets strut their stuff on the runway. There will be prizes, and please make sure all dogs are on a leash and are friendly to other dogs and people.
INFO: Sign-up at 5pm, show at 5:30pm. Humble Sea Brewery, 820 Swift St., Santa Cruz. Free.
