Send ideas to montereycountynow.com/events 22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com Highway 68, Salinas. $60-$210. grid.life/ laguna-festival. Saturday, Sept. 19 FLEETING FORTRESSES Sand castle architects and builders of Monterey County get a chance to win fame, glory and prizes at the 63rd Annual Great Sandcastle Contest, hosted by the City of Carmel and the American Institute of Architects Monterey Bay Chapter. This year’s theme, “It Never Gets Old: Carmel at 110,” commemorates the city’s birthday and beckons artists to devise historical Carmel scenes and structures. Remember that all manner of tools are allowed. Including shovels, rakes and buckets but all castle adornments must be found on the beach. All levels of sand castle builders are welcome (as are admirers). [AS] 7am start time Saturday, Sept. 19. Carmel Beach, between 10th and 12th avenues, Carmel. Free. (831) 620-2020, ci.carmel. ca.us. GREEN GOLD Plants are doing a lot of good for us all the time—creating oxygen through photosynthesis, holding soil together with their roots, cooling the temperature to habitable. Specific plants also offer other specific benefits. Some are food, some are medicine, and some are both. Learn about the flavors and health benefits of medicinal plants in our midst on a guided tour with herbalist Lianne Neptune. This is a chance to learn some basic botany as it relates to humans, and also to take a stroll in nature with a renewed focus on the diverse species around us. [SR] 10:30am-noon Saturday, Sept. 19. Locke Paddon Park, 188 Seaside Circle, Marina. Free; RSVP required; ages 8+. (831) 3723196, mprpd.org/let-s-go-outdoors. TWILIGHT SERENADE There’s just something about listening to music after the sun sets and twilight takes hold that adds a magic not attainable in the light, which is especially true with a live show. I Cantori di Carmel, or the Singers Of Carmel, are performing their “Songs after Sunset” with this in mind. The candle-lit evening features a pre-concert lecture with music historian and tenor David Gordon and music from Reger, Rheinberger, Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Messiaen, Barber and Arvo Pärt. An original work, “Carmel Point” from Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli, commissioned by I Cantori for the group’s 45th anniversary, makes its world premiere. [AS] 7:30pm Saturday, Sept. 19. Carmel Mission Basilica, 3080 Rio Road, Carmel. $49. (831) 644-8012, icantori.org. Saturday, Sept. 19-Sunday, Sept. 20 THIS ROCKS Where some might see just a rock, others see a beautiful piece of art. These are no ordinary rocks at the 64th annual Carmel Valley Gem and Mineral Society Gem Show. Artists and gem collectors will be on hand to showcase jewelry, crystals, beads, fossils and more. Beyond admiring these natural wonders, there are plenty of hands-on activities at the show including necklace-making, a fossil dig and prizes. A HOT PICKS performs in Monterey with his band to celebrate his new album, Boundless, which was produced by Grammy award-winner Francis Buckley and recorded in Belgium and Hollywood. There’s no limits to his mastery of the six strings. [EC] 6:30pm (dinner), 8pm (show) Friday, Sept. 18. Wave Street Studios, 774 Wave St., Monterey. $30/in advance; $35/at the door. (831) 6552010, wavestreetlive774.com. NIGHT OWL Every year, Pacific Grove’s museum of natural history hosts a fundraiser that brings together costumes, animals and “curiosities after dark”—yes, this includes creepy crawlies, raptors and… dogs. Dubbed “Night Owl 2026,” the event boasts an evening packed with activities for you curious night creatures. A pup patio invites you to say hello to adoptable dogs, plus there’s live music, an opportunity to meet actual live raptors with Full Circle Falconry, and a chance to encounter all kinds of nocturnal creatures in the museum’s critter room. [KR] 7-10pm Friday, Sept. 18. Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, 165 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove. $55; $40/member; ages 21+. (831) 648-5716, pgmuseum.org/nightowl. Friday, Sept. 18-Sunday, Sept. 20 TEE PARTY Reasons to spend a day or three at Pebble Beach Golf Links following the Pure Insurance Championship: 1. The field consists of 80 professionals on the PGA Tour Champions tour—names such as Vijay Singh, Bernhard Langer, Mark Calcavecchia and Ernie Els are likely. 2. The field also consists of 80 youth golfers from the First Tee program. 3. It’s operated by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, so proceeds go to dozens of local charities. 4. It’s free to attend, no ticket necessary. But how does it raise money for charities if none is coming in? Well, 160 amateurs are also part of the field, and they pay to play alongside the former PGA Tour stars and other professionals. So it’s a good weekend in many ways. [DF] 8am Friday-Sunday, Sept. 18-20. Pebble Beach Golf Links, 1700 17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach. Free. (831) 649-1533, pureinsurancechampionship.com. GET THE DRIFT You see a racetrack and of course you think of a music festival lineup featuring Dillon Francis, Chromeo, A-Trak, Kaivon and more. You see bands on stage and obviously arcade games come to mind—everything from vintage video games to racing simulators. Well, arcade games naturally go along with cars on track doing wild things like full course drifting and time attack battles… which of course makes you think of show cars and vendors. Put all of that together and you have the Gridlife Festival, a celebration of music, fun, drifting and racing all in one weekend at one convenient location—which happens to be an iconic track. OK, so it may not all make perfect sense. But it is nonstop and a lot of fun. [DF] 9am Friday-Sunday, Sept. 18-20. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, 1021 Full-course drifting is only part of the show at the Gridlife Festival. The event fills three days (Sept. 18-20) with live music, video games and plenty of tire smoke. The WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca stop is the last for the Gridlife season. DANIEL DREIFUSS Samantha Fish delivers electrifying performances at her tour stops (including Sept. 23 in Monterey). The bluesy singer crosses genres including country, funk and bluegrass. DOUG HARDESTY
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