34 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 22-28, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com HOT PICKSSend ideas to montereycountynow.com/events Saturday, Oct. 24-Sunday, Oct. 25 PARK N RIDE Welcome to a trailer park community where everyone fits into a role until a mysterious newcomer arrives, sparking skepticism. This colorful, rollicking play, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, welcomes you to join the cast in confronting big themes like love, jealousy, secrets and betrayals of trust. A note that this play includes an advisory for content such as profanity and sex that may not be appropriate for younger audience members. [SR] 7:30pm Saturdays, 2pm Sundays, Oct. 24-Nov. 15. The Western Stage, Hartnell College, 411 Central Ave., Salinas. $12-$30. (831) 755-6816, westernstage.com. Sunday, Oct. 25 BOTANICAL ART Ever see artists perched at a scenic vista, easels and paints in hand, ready to sketch the view in front of them and think, “Wow that looks peaceful, I’d like to try that!” Well here’s your chance. Guided by local illustrator Erin Ellis, learn step-by-step techniques in graphite and watercolor to capture botanical subjects. Your backdrop will be the beautiful Marina Dunes. Your subject? The diverse local flora observed and translated onto paper. It’s a chance to slow down, immerse and have a little fun capturing the beauty of the natural world. [KR] 11am-1pm Sunday, Oct. 25. Sanctuary Beach Resort, 3295 Dunes Drive, Marina. $55. (831) 883-5526, tinyurl.com/BotanicalArt26. GOOD GOURD Bobbing for apples? That’s how your grandparents amused themselves when they were young. Plunging in the pool for pumpkins is where the fun is now. Dive in, dogpaddle for a bit, then find the pumpkin you like and transform it into something disturbing. It’s bulbous, it’s orange, it has similar cognitive awareness—you know what to do. There are activities and food vendors, but to really keep the monster mash going, the plunge is followed by a dance party and costume contest. Of course, there are only so many pumpkins available (200), so register early to kick off Halloween. And to think, to keep their parties going, your grandparents had to leave the dance floor to flip the record. [DF] 2-5pm Sunday, Oct. 25. Monterey Sports Center, 301 E. Franklin St., Monterey. Free. (831) 646-3730, monterey.gov. STRINGS THEORY Not only can you go home again, you can also perform a concert when you do. Quartet Novalis formed in 2024 as students of the Carmel Bach Festival Baroque & Classical Academy. Since then, they have been gaining attention for their sense of the 18th and 19th century—restoring period concepts of sound, allowing the music to communicate and transcend as it did for audiences at the time. The string quartet of Luka Stefanović on cello with violin masters Eliana Estrada, Annemarie Schubert and Ela Kodžas (also on viola) will play selections of Mozart, Dvořák, Puccini and Mendelssohn— sorry, Annemarie, no Schubert. [DF] 7pm Sunday, Oct. 25. Church in the Forest, 3152 Forest Lake Road, Pebble Beach. $45- $55. (831) 624-1521, bachfestival.org. PRESERVING TRADITION Beyond performing son jarocho, a traditional music from Veracruz, Mexico, Los Vega is dedicated to promoting it as well. The family-based ensemble has released five albums and performed across the globe, from China to Colombia. Now they’re here for a concert in Seaside, where you might recognize their song “La Bruja” from the Oscar-nominated 2001 film Frida. Son jarocho is centered not just around the music itself, but the exchange of dance, poetry, music and performance. [CO] 7-9pm Sunday, Oct. 25. Palenke Teen Arts Center, 530 Elm Ave., Seaside. $30. (831) 899-9909, palenkearts.com. Wednesday, Oct. 28 PLAY IN THE SAND Playing around in the sandbox of classical music, a set of six musicians on viola, violin and cello, known as the WolfganG, perform pieces across a variety of artists influenced by Mozart. Dig through the sand and the memories of John Corigliano’s quartet inspired by a photo from his father’s childhood, build a castle like Philip Glass did through his quartet to honor the late artist Brian Buczak, or go down the slide into Jessie Montgomery’s nostalgic, celebratory quartet. In this small, intimate setting, they finish off with a classic quintet by Mozart. [CO] 7-10pm Wednesday, Oct. 28. SandBox, 440 Ortiz Ave., Sand City. $25-$40; free/youth under 18. sandboxsandcity.com. Hot Picks by Sloan Campi, Erik Chalhoub, Dave Faries, Celia Jiménez, Pam Marino, Chrissa Olson, Agata Popęda, Katie Rodriguez, Sara Rubin and Aric Sleeper. 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