Send ideas to montereycountynow.com/events 28 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 18-24, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com Friday, June 19- Saturday, June 20 PLANTS FOR PRIDE There are different ways LGBTQ+ people and allies can celebrate Pride, and not all of them involve dressing up. Salinas Valley Pride Celebrations and the California State Parks Foundation are teaming up to remove invasive mustard at Fort Ord Dunes State Park. Volunteers will contribute to the restoration of native habitat and learn about dune ecology over coffee and breakfast burritos (provided). Bring water and don’t forget sunscreen. This event is recommended for ages 8 and up. [CJ] 9am-noon Saturday, June 20. Fort Ord Dunes State Park main parking lot, end of 8th Street, Marina. Free. calparks.org/volunteer. Friday, June 19- Sunday, June 21 SEEING RED The Ferrari Challenge is a unique form of racing. There are early-stage professionals looking to make an impression, but also novices on track for the first time (after training—the folks at Ferrari are no dummies). In between are amateurs of different stripes. What they have in common is the Ferrari 296 and a desire to compete. For fans, there is access to the paddock and all of those sleek Prancing Ponies, as well as a chance to see how less experienced drivers handle the ups and downs, twists and turns of an iconic road course. And you might just spot a future star. [DF] 8:30am-5:30pm Friday, June 19-Sunday, June 21. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, 1021 Highway 68, Salinas. $41/Friday practice; $72/Saturday-Sunday qualifying and racing. (831) 242-8200, weathertechraceway. com. Saturday, June 20 GOLDEN CELEBRATION It’s the 50th anniversary of the Mission Trail Nature Preserve in Carmel, a 34-acre forested park along a seasonal tributary of the Carmel River, with five distinct habitats including a Monterey pine forest, willow riparian forest, wet meadow, coast live oak woodland and coastal prairie. It’s the last naturally occurring Monterey pine and coast live oak forest within Carmel. To celebrate the anniversary, the Friends of the Mission Trail Nature Preserve are leading a guided tour of the property, followed by refreshments. If you’ve never explored this varied landscape, the tour is a great introduction. [PM] 10-11:30am Saturday, June 20. Mission Trail Nature Preserve, Rio Road entrance (directly across the street from the Carmel Mission), 3080 Rio Road, Carmel. Free. (831) 3926118, friendsofmissiontrail.org. GOOD GRIEF Everyone deals with grief differently—although most of us in Western culture don’t always do it very well. Author Barbara Wansbrough dealt with the death of her sister during Covid through daily walks in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, which led to her critically acclaimed book, Wild Things: A Geography of Grief. The book is a series of 59 letters, one for each year of her sister’s life, that reimagines mourning as a practice of perception. Wansbrough comes to the Henry Miller Library to read from her book on her sister’s birthday. In a dialogue about grief and the intelligence of the natural worlds she will meet her husband, Paul Holdengräber, a renowned interviewer. [PM] Noon Saturday, June 20. Henry Miller Memorial Library, 48603 Highway 1, Big Sur. Free; reservations required. (831) 238-2890, henrymiller.org. HOT PICKS Hall, where she performed the duet “Talking Guitars” by composer Paul Lansky, alongside guitarist JIJI Guitar. Yang will grace Asilomar’s Surf & Sand Room, where the audience can experience her preternatural skill in an intimate, natural setting, as part of the Carmel Guitar Society’s 2026 retreat. [AS] 7pm Thursday, June 18. Asilomar Resort, 800 Asilomar Ave., Pacific Grove. $60. (831) 3163230, carmelguitarsociety.org. Thursday, June 18- Friday, June 19 PAST MEETS PRESENT On June 19, 1865, enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, were finally freed—and today, 161 years later, the Juneteenth celebrations continue. Salinas’ sixth annual Juneteenth event is a day of entertainment designed to inform participants about Black history and the importance of the federal holiday. (Free lunch is also provided.) Then, on the day of the holiday, head on over to Pacific Grove for a night of music. The Reverend Cashmere and The Jubilees featuring Eve party the night away. Learning history was never so much fun. [EC] Salinas Juneteenth Celebration: 11am-2pm Thursday, June 18 at Hartnell College Student Center, 411 Central Ave., Salinas. Free. salinasjuneteenth.com. Juneteenth Revival: 5pm Friday, June 19 at Pop & Hiss, 215 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove. $5. popandhiss.net. Thursday, June 18- Sunday, June 21 YOUNG BLOOD With music and lyrics by Mel Brooks, the 2007 Broadway musical Young Frankenstein is based on Brooks’ comedy horror film of the same title, and inspired by Mary Shelley’s famous 1818 novel. Directed by Stephen Moorer, it’s a story of “neurotic and reluctantly brilliant Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, the sophisticated New York neurosurgeon desperately trying to distance himself from his infamous family legacy—until mad science and destiny pull him back into the family business,” as the director shares. The novel holds up well today, and is even more fun with music, humor and original choreography. [AP] 7:30pm Thursdays-Saturdays and 2pm Sundays, June 18-July 26 (no show on July 4; ASL interpretation on Sunday, July 12). Founders Theatre, Golden Bough Playhouse, Monte Verde and 8th, Carmel. $8-$49; halfprice previews Thursday-Friday, June 18-19. (831) 622-0100, pacrep.org. Friday, June 19 BARREL FULL OF LAUGHS There’s nothing more pleasant than to sip some rosé and laugh in the sun—and this time while watching big names in the legendary San Francisco Comedy Competition. The evening features comic Mike E. Winfield, Cathy Zhao and Dan Aguinaga with routines they’ve honed for this moment. [AP] 7pm Friday, June 19. Folktale Winery, 8940 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel. $49-$160. (831) 293-7500, folktalewinery.com. Hao Yang brings her extraordinary guitar abilities to Asilomar on June 18, where audience members can hear her in an intimate setting thanks to Carmel Guitar Society. RYAN BRANDENBURG “The Weedies” is a group of volunteers who take meticulous care of Mission Trail Nature Preserve in Carmel. You can see the fruits of their labor on a tour in honor of the preserve’s 50th anniversary on Saturday, June 20.
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