.5 Things To Do In Santa Cruz: October 16-22

A weekly guide to what’s happening

Green Fix

Seymour Center Community Day 

Now is the best chance to make friends with the sharks and see how marine scientists work, free of charge. The Seymour Marine Discovery Center exhibit hall dives deep into the adventure of ocean research in Santa Cruz and around the world.

INFO: 10am-5pm. Thursday, Oct. 17. Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz. 459-3800, seymourcenter.ucsc.edu. Free. 

Art Seen

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Join the Ventana Wilderness Alliance in Santa Cruz on for fantastic films about wild things and wild places, guaranteed to inspire anyone to get outside. Some of the films feature familiar landscapes, like the Bay Area’s very own Mount Umunhum, while others are set in the Everglades Headwaters in Florida and Puerto Rico. This seventh-annual VWA presentation is the first Monterey Bay stop on the Wild and Scenic world tour. All proceeds benefit wilderness conservation in the Big Sur Backcountry.

INFO: 6pm. Thursday, Oct. 17. Del Mar Theatre, 1124 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. 423-3191, brownpapertickets.com.

Friday 10/18 

UCSC Alumnus Grant Lyon Performance

Aside from being an L.A.-based professional comedian, Grant Lyon is also a UCSC graduate (class of 2006 for those that care). Lyon got his start in comedy by performing on campus and at coffee shops in Santa Cruz. Since graduating, he’s gone on to appear on Comedy Central, Comics Unleashed, star in the Amazon Prime movie Killer Kate, win the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival, and more. Lyon is returning to Santa Cruz as the first UCSC graduate to headline DNA’s Comedy Lab

INFO: 7 and 9:30pm. DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 S River St., Santa Cruz. 900-5123. $20/$25. 

Saturday 10/19

Apple Tasting

Put down that mushy, tasteless Red Delicious this second. It’s apple season, and that brings all of the apple nerds—ahem, growing enthusiasts—out of the woodwork to present this year’s best and brightest varietals. The farmers market is already stocked on all kinds of eating, cooking and baking apples, but Wilder Ranch Harvest Festival apple tasting includes more than 70 varieties, including several not found at the weekly market. Pie/jam/tarts may be in order.

INFO: 11am-4pm. Wilder Ranch State Park, 1401 Coast Rd., Santa Cruz. 662-2216, mbcrfg.org. $5.

Saturday 10/19-Thursday 10/31

13 Days of Halloween on the Wharf

It’s an advent calendar of sorts—but for halloween. Head to the Santa Cruz Wharf for 13 days of frightful fun. The countdown starts with the Great Pumpkin Bingo Hunt, plus there will be free hot apple cider, games and face painting. There will also be a special Zombie Apocalypse Night. 

INFO: 4-6pm. Santa Cruz Wharf, 21 Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz. cityofsantacruz.com. Free.