Living Here › Around Town

Film Festivals, Concerts, Fairs—We have Plenty of Excuses to Have Fun

We could fill an entire website by simply describing all the festivals and concerts that come to town…so, we’ll just hit a few of the highlights…There’s the International Film Festival, the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race, Reggae on the River, Blues by the Bay, Jazz Fest, the North County Fair, the Sustainable Living Arts and Music Festival, the Oyster Festival, North Coast Open Studios Tour… Bottom line? There’s always something going on here.

Art in the Streets

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Humboldt County is home to more working artists (per capita) than any other county in California. So perhaps it is no surprise that there are 25 galleries and museums just within minutes of campus. In fact, there are five galleries right on campus—four which are dedicated solely to showing off student artwork. The residence halls have even sponsored their own resident art show.

Every month both Arcata and nearby Eureka celebrate the local art scene with festivals that bring the streets alive with music, dancing and, naturally, art. Arcata’s festival (Arts Arcata!) takes place on the second Friday of every month. Eureka holds its own festival (Arts Alive!) on the first Saturday of the month.

From Rent to Romeo and Juliet

Whether you are a fan of the theatre or a thespian yourself, there are a surprising number of places to explore the performing arts here in Humboldt County. Internationally renowned Dell’Arte physical theatre school is just 10 minutes from campus, in nearby Blue Lake. Then right on campus, Center Arts host at least one touring Broadway show in the VanDuzer Theatre every year, be it “Rent” or “Cats” or, well, whatever’s big on Broadway... Humboldt County is also home to three major theatre companies: Redwood Curtain, North Coast Repertory Theatre in Eureka, and Ferndale Repertory Theatre. Each of these companies consistently rolls out an awesome season of shows, not to mention Shakespeare in the Park, and the local children’s theatre.