Downtown Day 2023

UC Santa Cruz students are invited to explore downtown Santa Cruz and discover all the vibrant areas it has to offer on Friday, October 6 from 10:00am - 6:30pm. UC Santa Cruz is partnering with the Downtown Association, the City of Santa Cruz, and the Museum of Art & History (MAH) for this fun and interactive event. Businesses participating in Downtown Day will welcome students with “We Love Banana Slugs” or “Ask About a Banana Slug Discount” window decals. 

The Sammy Slug Scavenger Hunt is a fun way to explore local businesses and organizations. To participate, pick up your scavenger hunt passport at Pacific Cookie Company from 10:00am - 5:00pm (1203 Pacific Avenue, at the corner of Pacific and Soquel Avenues—across from New Leaf Market). The passport will include riddles to help you find a Sammy Slug plushie in participating businesses. You’ll get a stamp on your passport for each plushie you find and riddle you solve. Once you’ve found at least five plushies, bring your passport to the MAH at 5pm to receive your ticket for the Sammy Slug raffle. Winners will be announced at 5:30pm at the student rally at the MAH—you must be present to win.

At 4pm, the first 200 students to arrive at the MAH will receive a Sammy Swag Bag filled with goodies provided by supporting businesses. Pick up your swag bag, and stay to view the QueerStories exhibit, or other exhibits at the MAH. 

Looking for a job? Students are encouraged to participate in the walk-in job fair  from 2pm-4pm. Dress nicely and bring several copies of your resume for prospective employers, who are conducting on the spot interviews.

The Job Fair is open to anyone. All other Downtown Day activities require a student ID, so be sure you have your ID with you

A UC Santa Cruz shuttle bus will be operating and leaving from the Quarry Amphitheater parking lot for downtown every hour beginning at 1pm. The last shuttle will leave campus at 

6pm. It will leave downtown for campus every 30 minutes beginning at 1:30pm. The last shuttle will leave downtown at 6:30pm. Students taking public transportation can find the UCSC Metro bus schedule here.

Questions? Contact Salina Nevarez at snevare1@ucsc.edu or Audries Blake at arblake@ucsc.edu