Last Night DIY

Welcome to DIY Last Night

2020-01-31T11:12:00.000-08:00

Last Night is a do-it-yourself, decentralized, collective, spontaneous, open, public New Year's Eve celebration in Santa Cruz, California.

Meet at the Saturn Cafe lot, Pacific & Spruce
5pm Sunset on New Year's Eve

Parade will take off at 5:30pm
and end in a street party at Pacific & Cooper

Read the Last Night Manifesto

Fliers and Handbills

2010-12-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

Feel free to download these poster and whatnot, print them, and post them, pass them on to friends, etc. Also feel perfectly free to make your own. Send a PDF or imagefile to info@lastnightdiy.org.

Harassment of local activist continues as city tries to put an end to Last Night DIY Parade

2010-04-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

Wes Modes targeted as city tries to put an end to Last Night DIY parade

SANTA CRUZ, CA-- When local activist Wes Modes accepted a misdemeanor plea deal in December 2009 for his part in defending the Farmer's Market Drum Circle, he figured that would be the end of it. A year suspended sentence and some community service. No problem, he thought. Now the Santa Cruz District Attorney is saying that Modes violated his plea agreement by organizing the Last Night DIY parade. Here's the thing: Modes did not organize that event in 2009.

According to Last Night participants, the new infraction is the latest in a series of police harassment that Wes has received since outing police infiltrators in 2005.
"Wes is being unjustly targeted for being an outspoken critic of the Santa Cruz Police Department. He's being singled out from a crowd of community organizers, facilitators and participants. It goes completely against the community spirit of this Santa Cruz celebration," said parade participant Grant Wilson. Now Modes' freedom hinges on a minor code violation for participating in a parade celebrated by the entire Santa Cruz community.

Before the Last Night Do-It-Yourself parade, the city of Santa Cruz sponsored First Night Santa Cruz, an expensive New Year's Eve event that sputtered out in 2004 due to lack of funds. In 2005, Modes and some of friends decided to pick up where First Night left off--and do it cheaper. They put out a call for performers and announced a DIY parade that would meet at one end of Pacific and march to the other. They also eschewed the city permits, which accounted for half of the official First Night budget.

When the police caught wind of the plans for the event, they sent undercover officers to infiltrate the organizing meetings for three months. Records released after the incident revealed a pattern of abuses, including infiltrating parade organizers, monitoring other unrelated groups and first amendment activities, and compiling dossiers of organizers. The city's own police auditor concluded that police had violated the civil rights of citizens and, under pressure from Modes and the ACLU, the city adapted guidelines on SCPD undercover activities.

The celebration was a great success and Last Night quickly became a Santa Cruz tradition. Families line Pacific to watch the parade, which is filled with musicians, puppets, jugglers and unicyclers. The event provided a safe and free way for locals to enjoy downtown on New Year's Eve. All the event details, including clean up and traffic control, is taken care of by the participants of the event. According to Modes, "neither I nor any of the original organizers have done anything to organize the parade in years, other than occasionally updating the website. The parade is an example of communities coming together to create a diverse and interesting celebration without the help of the city, businesses, or institutions."

No one has ever been cited for organizing or participating in the event. Until now. Many people have been public about their part in creating the event, but Modes alone received a citation in the mail for "conducting a non-commercial event without a permit." Though in recent years, city council member Mike Rotkin and the SCPD have grumbled about the organizers not paying for permits, the celebration has always been peaceful and joyous. In fact, in 2007, then Deputy Police Chief Patty Sapone commented on Last Night, saying "The city is very quiet. . . We haven’t had any major problems."

Because the charge is an infraction, Wes is not eligible for a public defender nor a jury trial. The judge refused Wes' request for a pretrial hearing and time to prepare and scheduled the trial for May 14th. This means that Wes has one month to raise money for a lawyer and prepare for trial. Wes may lose his freedom for helping to create an event celebrated by the entire Santa Cruz community.

Ways to support Wes:

Come to Wes' court date on May 14th at 1:30pm
Help raise money for a good lawyer, possible fines, and other legal costs
Write a letter talking about your own self-organized participation in the parade

For more information see the Red Hill Legal Support website or email redhill [at] riseup [dot] net.

http://redhillsupport.wordpress.com/

Contact Last Night DIY

2009-08-31T10:49:00.000-07:00

Of course you are making this happen as much as we are, but if you want to connect with others also making this happen. Here's how:

Email

Email the folks who originally started pouring gasoline on this fire: info-at-lastnightdiy.org

Want to Perform?

Signup to be on the Last Night performer list. Send your group's name and a description of what you do: info-at-lastnightdiy.org

Announcement List

Signup to the Last Night announcement list to get updates and breaking news:

Press

2009-08-31T10:48:00.002-07:00

Contact

Want to connect with people making this happen? Keep in mind, these are not the "organizers." These are not the folks in charge. There is no executive director of Last Night. This is a people's event and everyone is pitching in to help however they can. These are some folks who've agreed to talk about Last Night.

Email:	info-at-lastnightdiy.org
Phone:	Whitney 831.427.0350

Photos

Visit our photo gallery featuring large high-resolution captioned images. Generally, you are free to use these for your own grassroots and anti-profit endeavors. However, if you want to use one of these images for commercial purposes (including for-profit media), contact the photographer and obtain permission. Naturally, you'll use appropriate photographer/artist credits, right?

Press Coverage 2007

Santa Cruz Last Night DIY Street Party
IndyBay - January 4, 2008
"The parade ended with a street party at the intersection of Cooper and Pacific that featured firedancers, lots of musicians, free hugs, unicyclists, a fire barrel, brazen square dancing, a pillow fight and much more!" Photos by ~Bradley

Santa Cruz Last Night DIY Parade
IndyBay - January 4, 2008
"Hundreds of people marched down Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz....." Phtos by ~Bradley

Musings From Within the Triple Fun Zone
IndyBay - January 2, 2008
"Hundreds of people marched down Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz....." An open letter from Rico.

DIY Parade Draws Crowd in Santa Cruz
KSBW News - January 1, 2008
"The Do-It-Yourself Parade brought the crowds out to downtown Santa Cruz to celebrate New Year's Eve."

KION News New Year's Wrap-up
KOIN News - January 1, 2008
"A much less organized New Year's Eve party... it had rebel revelers rolling through downtown Pacific Ave. But police say they frown on the parade because it's done without proper city permits. Police say it is up to the do-it-yourself-ers to keep things orderly..." Video - Around minute 2:15 of the broadcast.

Sentinel Video: Last Night DIY
Santa Cruz Sentinel Online - January 1, 2008
Video from the New Year's Eve parade in downtown Santa Cruz. Music by Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra.

Photo by Dan Coyro - Santa Cruz Sentinel

New Year's Eve goes full throttle at Last Night DIY parade
Santa Cruz Sentinel - January 1, 2008
"The drum beat was loud and slightly off tune, and the array of colorful wigs and masks with mismatched costumes made downtown light up like Halloween."

It's New Year's Eve!
Register-Pajaronian - December 31, 2007
"An eclectic collection of jugglers, fire dancers, stiltwalkers, clowns, samba drummers, art cars, freak bikes, interactive art, music and marching bands."

KION News Now 12.31.07
KOIN News - December 31, 2007
Audio only - Listen up around minute 1:43 of the broadcast.

Downtown Santa Cruz braces for New Year's revelers
Santa Cruz Sentinel - December 31, 2007
"Whitney Wilde's sewing machine will get a much-needed break after tonight."

KSBW TV
KSBW TV - December 27, 2007 - 5pm, 6pm and 11pm
Sylvia gave an excellent on-camera interview about the parade with Phil Gomez, but I couldn't find online video of it!

YouTube from yourthebestbuyer
Santa Cruz DIY parade 2007

Press Coverage 2006

YouTube video of firedancer - great sound!
"Harper + fire poi = almost catching pants on fire."

Local News: Weird, wild and safe: Santa Cruz New Year's Eve a unique celebration
Santa Cruz Sentinel - January 2, 2007
"A peaceful and jubilant New Year's Eve gave way to a calm New Year's Day, one of the quietest holidays in memory, law enforcement officials said Monday."
Be sure to check out the multi-media presentation for the sights and sounds of the parade. Dan Coyro did a great job of capturing it.

Welcoming 2007
Register Pajaronian - Jan 3, 2007
"Pacific Avenue was filled with musicians, unicyclists, fire jugglers, Santa Clauses on bicycles, a stilt walker and even a fake Dick Cheney Sunday night as hundreds of mostly Santa Cruz residents celebrated the final hours of 2006."

New Years Eve Do-It-Yourself Parade Returns to Pacific Ave
Mid-County Post - Dec 26, 2006
"The eclectic Last Night Santa Cruz parade will return to downtown Santa Cruz again this year, gathering near Saturn Cafe at sunset and marching the length of Pacific Avenue to a final "hoe-down" near the clock tower."

Coast Lines: Parade Group Plans To Skip Permit (PDF)
Santa Cruz Sentinel - Dec 20, 2006
"Organizers of a New Year's Eve downtown parade have said they will not obtain a permit for the event, which will march up Pacific Avenue from Laurel Street."

About Last Night - Santa Cruz gets ready for another DIY New Year's Eve
Santa Cruz Metro - Dec 27, 2006
"Have you ever jaywalked? Have you ever filed for a permit to jaywalk? Have you ever jaywalked with a friend? Have you ever jaywalked with a few hundred friends?"

The Last Night Santa Cruz DIY Parade (PDF)
CityGuide San Francisco - Dec 12, 2006
"The crowd is the thing here, and whether that involves stilt-walkers, activist groups, alt.music performances or bike punks, all are welcome to come and show their stuff."

Unofficial parade set for Santa Cruz on New Year's Eve (PDF)
Santa Cruz Sentinel - Dec 12, 2006
"The New Year's Eve downtown parade that made its debut last year by a group of community mavericks is set to take stage on Pacific Avenue again."

Letters: New Years Celebrations (PDF)
Mid-County Post - Jan 24, 2006
"What a beautiful celebration. What an amazing group of people. Thousands of people came out New Year's Eve to participate in the people's parade that marched raucously up Pacific Avenue and spanned many blocks."

Press Coverage 2005

Undercover Officers Rile New Year's Eve Parade Planners (PDF)
Santa Cruz Sentinel - Dec 31, 2005
"Two men attended three meetings and did not let on they were police officers, giving false names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses."

Nuz: About Last Night Again (PDF)
Metro Santa Cruz - Dec 21, 2005
"This will be the inaugural Last Night DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Parade, combining two of the most popular pastimes in Santa Cruz: dressing in costume and resisting authority."

Filling the void left by First Night (PDF)
Santa Cruz Sentinel - Dec 15, 2005
"Whoever shows up at dusk on Pacific Avenue can join in with a parade that will feature many of the elements that locals will remember from the First Night Processional without the tightly controlled visual themes."

Silent First Night: Cities cancel family-friendly New Year's events (PDF)
Wall Street Journal - Dec 10, 2005
"But this New Year's Eve is going to look different: Political activists and street artists are planning a march through town with a "trash orchestra" banging barrels and pans."

Downtown Halloween ruckus raises concerns about New Year's Eve (PDF)
Santa Cruz Sentinel - Dec 3, 2005
"A splinter group calling themselves Last Night Santa Cruz have planned a 'completely organic' parade to replace the one organized by First Night"

Nuz: About Last Night (PDF)
Metro Santa Cruz - Sep 21, 2005
"various members of the community are organizing LAST NIGHT SANTA CRUZ to fill the void--and they're inviting you and everyone you know to help."

Press Releases

Last Night DIY Parade Returns in Full Force (PDF)
December 19, 2006 - Following police spying, decentralized celebration refuses permission to bring spontaneous parade to Santa Cruz streets.

Last Night DIY Paraders Issue Manifesto (PDF)
December 15, 2006 - Undaunted, this year's parade and celebration return in full force to take over the streets. It is a people's parade and everyone is invited.

Last Night Entertainment Release (PDF)
December 13, 2006 - Come express yourself and join the fun in Downtown Santa Cruz for a New Year’s parade crammed with jugglers, clowns, samba drums, pirates, bikes, and marching bands.

Community Outraged by New Police Spying Policy (PDF)
July 5, 2006 - New SCPD rules still allow police to illegally spy on political groups; City fails in promise to pass strong policy protecting first amendment activities

Auditor: SCPD Violated Organizer's Civil Rights (PDF)
March 22, 2006 - Santa Cruz police auditor finds that officers violated free speech, free assembly, and privacy rights of parade planners

Investigation Reveals More SCPD Spying (PDF)
February 13, 2006 - Details of Internal Investigation Conducted by Santa Cruz Police Department reveal pattern of abuses: spying on other first amendment activities, profiling innocent people, gathering bad intelligence

Police Infiltrate Peaceful Parade Organizers (PDF)
December 29, 2005 - Undercover Officers Spying on Grassroots New Year's Parade Meetings

A Do-It-Yourself New Year's (PDF)
December 5, 2005 - Last Night Santa Cruz Offers a DIY New Year's Parade and Celebration

Police Spying Aftermath

Join Last Night DIY

2009-08-31T10:46:00.001-07:00

This is Your Last Night - So Get Involved

First off, don't wait to see who's in. Jump in.

Everyone wants to bet on the winning horse. But ask yourself, how far did that get you in the last election? It's a basic problem with our screwed-up democracy. If you're not willing to go with your heart, regardless of whether you win or lose, what good is your democracy anyway?

This time we'll do it differently. We'll vote with our heart. This is the Last Night we depend on parties and elected officials to look after us. The Last Night we wait and see.

Instead, take a chance on a crazy idea. We don't just have to keep Santa Cruz weird. Make it weird. Make it fun. Take part in something. If you don't, no one is going to do it for you.

Or Ease In - a step by step guide

If you are not a jump-from-the-heights sorta person, here's a step-by-step guide to easing your way into the water:

Commit to being downtown at sunset on New Year's Eve just to check out the Last Night parade.
Allow for the possibility that if the spirit strikes you, you might just jump in and march with the passing revelers of the Last Night Santa Cruz parade.
Call up some friends, tentatively at first, and see if they might just want to do something with you for the parade. Make some music, or build a float or puppets, create a contingent of pseudo-official marchers (the ministry of silly walks, ninjas for peace, whatever), spin fire, create a bike gang, anything and everything.
Move from the tentative we'll-see stage to the let's-make-it-happen stage. Commit, you waffler.
Add your group or individual performance to "Who?" page, using the wiki "Edit Page" option.
Signup to the Last Night announcement list to get updates and breaking news:

Email:">
Join in the discussion . Lively debates and brainstorming about everything really. Something akin to a public working group online.

en espanol

2009-08-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

Desfile de la Ultima Noche

Bienvenidos!

Last Night es una celebracion "hazlo tu mismo" del Ano Nuevo en Santa Cruz. Es un evento decentralizado, colectivo, espontaneo, abierto y publico.

Se reune detras del Saturn Cafe,
a la puesta del sol, 31 de diciembre.
Que vengan todos!

Manifiesto de la Ultima Noche

Last Night (La Última Noche) es una celebración pública, decentralizada, colectiva, espontánea y abierta en Santa Cruz, California. La Última Noche es un evento completamente orgánico, organizado y hecho en base. No hay patrocinio del gobierno de la ciudad. No hay patrones de negocios. Es un desfile y una celebración hazlo tu mismo (D.I.Y: do-it-yourself)

Escribimos este manifiesto en el espíritu de entendimiento, tratando de comunicar nuestras intenciónes. El desfile no es solamente una celebración, sino una celebración del poder que tenemos cuando nos juntamos para hacer que algo pase. No es solamente una fiesta en la calle, pero una fiesta para reclamar nuestras calles.

Last Night empezó en 2005 como una respuesta a la implosión de la celebración de la ciudad, First Night (La Primera Noche). En el mismo año, el gobierno de los E.E.U.U. abandonó a millónes de personas pobres en Nueva Orleans después del huracán Katrina. Last Night también fue una conmemoración del espirito “hazlo tu mismo” de aquellas comunidades sobrevivientes.

Aquel año, miles de personas salieron para participar en el desfile, que marchó ruidosamente por la Avenida Pacific. El desfile incluyó el Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra (La orquestra de basura de Santa Cruz), demonstraciónes de artes marciales, bailadores de fuego, the Santa Cruz Peace Coalition (la Coalición de Paz de Santa Cruz), música de Indonesia, círculos de tambores, carrozas alegóricas, y the Opera Lady (la Señora de la Ópera). El desfile tuvo una energia alta y pacífica. No hubo conflictos con la policia, cuya presencia estuvo al margen de todo. El desfile y sus organizadores constituya de personas provenientes de diferentes ramas de la comunidad.

En una reacción típica de la autoridad a la amenaza de la gente tomando responsabilidad de sus propias vidas, el Departamento de la Policia de Santa Cruz desplegó policia clandestinas para infiltrarse en las reuniones de planificación del desfile por tres meses. Unos archivos fueron dado al público después del escándalo del espionaje, revelando varios abusos, incluyendo la vijilancia de grupos no relacionados y otras actividades de la primera enmienda de la constitución, y arreglos de expedientes de los organizadores. El auditor de la ciudad de Santa Cruz determinó que la policia había violado los derechos civíles de los organizadores del desfile. Después de seis meses de lucha de la activa participación de la comunidad, de activistas, y del ACLU (Unión de las Libertades Civiles de America), la ciudad creó una política floja para contener unos de los abusos del poder de la policia.

La celebración es decentralizada—no hay solamente una persona o un grupo haciendola. No hay un comité central ni una junta directiva. Nadie está en cargado, pero todos somos líderes. Decisiones sobre la ruta y la agenda y otros asuntos tácticos son hecho colectivamente por las personas inclinadas a hacerlas. Colectivo simplemente significa que lo hacemos todos juntos.

La celebración es espontanea—no estamos pidiendo licensia ni permiso de la ciudad, y no hay limites en la participación. Nadie esta en una posición para restringir a quien puede participar o en que manera. La gente solo llega preparada para celebrar con el resto de la ciudad. Todos en nuestra comunidad están invitados a participar para que celebremos juntos.

El enfoque es confianza en si mismo. Unos de los aspetos mas importantes de la celebración Last Night es que la gente toma responsabilidad por si mismo, y por su comunidad. Como tal, las personas que son “des-organizando” el desfile se concentra en puntos como la seguridad, control del tráfico, la sanitación, limpiesa después del evento, y comunicación con la policia.

Tras la barrera imposible del proceso arduo y prohibitivamente caro de obtener una licensia de la ciudad para un evento especial, el mismo proceso es una estafa. Es un proceso en que la ciudad nos cobra por el privilegio de ejercer nuestros derechos de libertad de expresión. Al aceptar una licensia pone a persona o grupo en la posición de tener que poner control en otras personas, para que otras personas no hagan daño a su buena posición con las autoridades. Adicionalmente, aquella persona o grupo que tome la responsabilidad y el riesgo para las acciónes de otras. No queremos estar en esta posición, ni queremos que otra persona tenga aquella responsabilidad de nosotros.

Queremos vivir en un mundo lleno de juego y celebración, donde la expresión de si mismo es una cosa natural. Un mundo lleno de sorpresas, en que relaciónes son autenticas y sín prejuicios. Un mundo en que compartimos una conexión directa al mundo alrededor de nosotros. Donde una persona no tiene que pedir permiso a las autoridades para realizar sus sueños de aventura y posibilidad.

Parte de crear un nuevo mundo es resistencia al viejo, a la comodificación inexorable y el control de todo, incluyendo celebración y la manera en que nos relacionamos el uno con el otro.

Cuando pedimos permiso para vivir nuestras vidas, para celebrar, juntar, expresar disensión, legitimamos el poder de las instituciónes sobre nosotros. Entregamos el poder de hacer nuestras propias decisiónes y nos hacemos sujetos a las decisiónes de otros quienes no necesariamente están actuando en nuestros intereses.

Por eso, no estamos buscando licensia de la ciudad. Refutamos pedir permiso para ser libre.

Amor y celebración,

Last Night Santa Cruz.

Contacto

Para información, preguntas, o ideas en español, por favor escribe a Sylvia
sylvianotcynthia@hotmail.com

Last Night Gallery

2009-08-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

Images from the Last Night DIY Parade and Celebration.

Last Night 2008

If you have any photos from December 31, 2008, please add here or add to the Flickr page. We'd all love to see what you saw!

Generally, you are free to use these for your own grassroots and anti-profit endeavors. However, if you want to use one of these images for commercial purposes (including for-profit media), contact the photographer and obtain permission. Naturally, you'll use appropriate photographer/artist credits, right?

If you are uploading photos, please include your name and contact info under each photo.

Here's a 6 1/2 minute video of the parade!

Photo by Karen Scott, 12/31/2008

Last Night 2007

Check out the great photos of the sidewalk chalk! Thanks to Crew Morgan for the chalk and thanks to Dmitri Monk for the photos.

Photo of Opera Lady by Ann Simonton

Photo of Heather hooping by Ann Simonton

Photo of Gamelon Anak Swarasanti by Ann Simonton

Photo of the regal drum major by Ann Simonton

Here we come! by Jane Walton

Trash Orchestra by Jane Walton

Banner by Jane Walton

Drum Major by Jane Walton

Hoop by Jane Walton

Fire Dance by Jane Walton

Harmonica Player by Jane Walton

Trash Orchestra rockin' it! by Jane Walton

Handing Out Glow Necklaces by Jane Walton

Fire Sticks by Jane Walton

Last Night 2006

For more photos from Last Night 2006, check out the Flickr page.

Trash Orchestra Color Guard

Trash Orchestra at Last Night DIY Santa Cruz Parade 2006

Audience participation at Last Night

Warming Up Before the Parade

Last Night History

2009-08-31T10:43:00.001-07:00

Where did this come from?

A Brief History of Last Night (and Some Great Local History)

Last Night started in 2005 as a response to the implosion of the city-sponsored First Night celebration. That year, thousands of people came out to participate in the people’s parade that marched raucously up Pacific Avenue. The parade represented a broad cross-section of the community and was high-energy and peaceful.

Every New Years since 2005, the DIY celebration has been peaceful, creative, and fun. Community members carefully handle organization, traffic control, and cleanup. However, because of its lack of official sanction, civic leaders have opposed the celebration from the beginning.

In October 2005, the Santa Cruz Police Department deployed undercover officers to infiltrate parade planning meetings for three months. Investigations after the spying scandal came to light, revealed a pattern of abuses, including monitoring unrelated groups and other first amendment activities and compiling police dossiers of organizers. The city's own police auditor determined that police had violated the civil rights of parade organizers. After six months of effort, community, activist, and ACLU involvement, the city put in place a weak policy to curb some of the abuses of police power. (See Police Spying Aftermath below.)

In 2006, the Last Night DIY Celebration concluded with a rollicking drum and dance party that took over Santa Cruz' de facto public square at Cooper and Pacific Ave.

In 2010, police tried to shut down the parade by selectively targeting participants months after the event. In spite of the DIY parade's spotless record, Police used the unrelated violence on May 1st, 2010 to argue that all unpermitted events were dangerous.

Police Spying Aftermath

In October 2005, Santa Cruz police learned about the planned grassroots New Year's Eve parade. Without attempting to contact parade organizers, SCPD chose to send two undercover officers to the planning meetings held in a private residence to learn everything they could about the group and the event. In the internal investigation, they claim to have been alarmed by what they described as “a defiant tone.”

Though the initial conclusion of undercover officers was that the parade planning group “will be a peaceful gathering” and that they “have nothing to hide,” SCPD made no attempt to contact the group and continued to infiltrate the group for another three months from October to December.

SCPD used their presence at the planning meetings to gather information about other community groups and First Amendment activities taking place.. They used this information to monitor events and tip off other outside agencies.

In the wake of the emerging scandal, the Santa Cruz City Council stonewalled the process showing more concern for the "due process rights" of the police than the civil rights of parade organizers. Records released after the incident revealed a pattern of abuses, including infiltrating parade organizers, monitoring other unrelated groups and first amendment activities, and compiling dossiers of organizers. Six months later, after pressure from the community and the ACLU, after the city's own police auditor concluded that police had violated the civil rights of citizens, the city finally put into place a grossly inadequate SCPD policy on police spying.

While the new policy puts some limits on undercover activities, it leaves other police activities unchecked. Under the new rules, even if you are engaged in legal constitutionally protected first amendment activities, Santa Cruz police will still be able to video and audio record you, listen to your phone calls, read your mail and email, keep notes about your organization, tail you, monitor your website, subscribe to your email lists, and examine membership lists. The city failed in its promise to pass a policy providing strong protections for first amendment rights

The police spying scandal was covered by local and regional newspapers, TV, radio, and weeklies. San Jose Mercury News, Santa Cruz Sentinel (daily), Watsonville-Pajaronian (daily), Monterey Herald, Contra Costa Times, Metro Santa Cruz (weekly), Santa Cruz Good Times (weekly), Berkeley Daily Planet, Pacifica Radio, Free Speech Radio News, , KUSP FM Central Coast, KZSC FM Santa Cruz, KSCO AM Santa Cruz, KSBW TV Salinas, KPIX TV San Francisco, CBS TV San Francisco, IndyBay Indymedia, and Indymedia Santa Cruz.

For links to media articles, check out the Last Night press secion.

Santa Cruz DIY Celebration History

Less well-known is Santa Cruz' history of do-it-yourself celebrations and the police response to them.

On New Year's Eve 1994, riot cops moved in to clear downtown streets 10 minutes after midnight. The resulting melee between police and celebrants resulted in a riot that shattered storefronts up and down Pacific Ave. Police officials responsible for clearing the streets were later disciplined after investigations revealed that they had escalated the situation. In response to this violence, the city sponsored a First Night franchise the following New Year. Years later this police riot was used to justify spying on Last Night organizers, and is still used today (sans context) to justify police concern about historically roudy holidays.

A 1972 parade, following a County Board of Supervisors meeting where a resolution was adopted to stop the Vietnam War, resulted in a police riot in which officers beat demonstrators and bystanders with batons.

According to Sandy Lydon, the History Dude:

Following the meeting, the assembled multitude decided to hold a candlelight march down Pacific Avenue. Supervisor Harry and his wife Kay joined the parade, and flanked by the tac squad, the parade moved peacefully down Pacific Avenue.

To this day no one is certain what started the violence, but Harry remembered watching the officers beating a man with their batons in front of the St. George Hotel. "The guy was on the ground and three officers just whomped on him for awhile before leaving him there on the sidewalk," he said. The order was then given to clear the streets and officers ran along Pacific Avenue, swinging clubs and knocking down demonstrators and bystanders.

This parade is an impromptu 1908 July 4th celebration.

Anecdotes and Other Stuff

Add your personal anecdotes that reflect on Last Night history here. This is our history that we create together, not an authoritative canon, so plunge in. Your story is as good as anyone's. Add your short bit of history by clicking on the "comment" link below, or add a longer anecdote with the "Edit This Page" link to the left.

A Letter to Our Community and Report Back

We did it. What a beautiful celebration. What an amazing group of people.

Thousands of people came out New Year's Eve to participate in the people’s parade that marched raucously up Pacific Avenue and spanned many blocks. The parade included the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra, martial arts displays, firedancers, the Santa Cruz Peace Coalition, peace marchers, Indonesian music, drum circles, floats, the Opera Lady, the Man in Black, zombies, and much much more. I was thrilled to see spectators on the sidelines plunge in to the parade and become participants. The parade was high-energy and peaceful. There were no conflicts with police who’s light presence remained far on the periphery.

I woke up on January 1st (in my bed, not in the hoosegow, I was happy to note) and thought "This is our year." This is the people's year to do exactly what needs doing. No one can stop us.

I had the good fortune to be a tourist in Oaxaca City, Mexico years ago when the Zapatista delegation was making its historic trek to Mexico City to make their demands to the Mexican government. I'll never forget a rally in the central plaza with thousands of people chanting "¡El pueblo, unido, jamás será vencido!" Roughly, "the people united, will never be defeated!" Indeed.

That's how it felt on Saturday night. Joyous. Defiant. Victorious. Heartwarming. Thrilling. All those things and more, a swirl of emotions. The magic and mystery of the unknown, the unplanned, the unscripted.

In September, I wrote: "This is our town, our celebration, our night. Let's do our own parade. A Last Night celebration. A last night of waiting for governments, institutions, or anyone else to entertain us, satisfy us, bring us security, freedom, or joy. We reclaim our streets and usher in the new year with our own celebration."

Throughout this year, I want to keep that in mind. This is our town. We make it happen. We make up our community and we are what makes this town vital and full of life. This is our year. If we want to see something happen, we make it happen.

If there's a war on that we need to stop, let's stop it. If there is injustice, let's right it. If there is suffering, let's put an end to it. If we need to celebrate, let's do it.

That was our last night, of waiting and seeing.

Love and celebration,

Rico, January 2006

Last Night Inspiration

I came back from my summer travels to a ton of overwhelming news about Katrina and New Orleans. It seemed unreal. It seemed unimaginable that our government who makes such a big fucking deal about keeping us scared and then claiming to protect us could so thoroughly fuck shit up for so many people.

I mean, on one hand, did we ever have any illusions that the safety they talked about applied equally to everyone, rich and poor? And did we really think it was much more than an excuse to achieve full US domination of the globe and simultaneously erode our liberties and fatten the wallets of corporate cronies? Good god, I hope we're not that naive. But nevertheless...

I think, we did imagine that our governments and institutions would make a token effort to at least keep us safe and fat and happy. But I think Katrina shatters that illusion.

You knew of course, that the administration directly funneled money away from reinforcing the New Orleans levies just this year for other pet projects and wars? You knew that there were few national guard troops and equipment to help victims of the hurricane because they were all busy in Iraq. You knew that the president was golfing and Condi Rice was shopping for shoes in NY as the storm raged? You knew that the the nepotistically-appointed head of FEMA was more worried about the public perception of his performance than actually helping people? You knew, of course, that local police were not letting poor residents of the flooded quarters of New Orleans escape the city across the bridges on foot? Didn't you already know that?

Our government cannot and will not keep us safe, happy, and free.

I came back feeling like, What the fuck? These are the people we depend on to tell us what we can and can't do? Are we crazy? Our institutions can barely manage their own affairs.
I don't hate them, I just think they are largely irrelevant in our lives. WE make this country. And WE make this city. And WE make our communities. Us. Not a bunch of elected yahoos. We are what make our communities connected and vital and full of life.

When I heard that First Night Santa Cruz, our little city-sponsored humdrum New Year's safe-and-sane entertainment, had finally collapsed in on itself in a corpulent pile, I thought, of course. Exactly.

This is our town, our celebration, our night. Let's do our own parade. A Last Night celebration. A last night of waiting for governments, institutions, or anyone else to entertain us, satisfy us, bring us security, freedom, or joy. We reclaim our streets and usher in the new year with our own celebration.

Rico, Santa Cruz, September 2005

Who Makes This Happen

2009-08-31T10:42:00.001-07:00

Who Puts on This Celebration

You do. I do. We all make it happen. It is truly grassroots, a people's parade that spontaneously erupts downtown on New Year's Eve. It is our answer to humdrum pre-digested city-sponsored and corporate infotainment. How did this happen? Check out Last Night History.

We'd like to invite you to help plan this year's downtown New Year's Eve celebration. Call a planning meeting, a potluck, a pizza party. We can brainstorm this year's celebration, and figure out ways to create music and politics, guerilla artists and art, intrigue and adventure.

Who's Participated in This In the Past?

Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd. So in that spirit, we'll list any group who's talking seriously about joining us. If you want to be listed (or if you're irritated that we listed you), drop us a line.

Here are some of the fine folx who were brave enough to jump in on this unlikely affair:

Free Skool Eskrima: Filipino Stick and Knife Fighting
Last Night Pillow Fight BYOP (Bring Your Own Pillow)
Gamelan Anak Swarasanti
Community Music School Celtic Band
Hoopalights - a Santa Cruz LED Hoop Dance Troupe
Midnight Mystery Riders
Santa Cruz Pipes & Drums
Stiltwalkers
Santa Cruz Art & Revolution
Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra
Silent Peace Walk
The Great Morgani
The Opera Lady
Henmei no Komuso
Interactive art projects!
Santa Cruz Radical Cheerleaders
Amnesty International, Santa Cruz Chapter
Bike Kids
Midnight Mystery Ride
Humanity for Homeless
The Great Morgani
The Winter Queen
Ukulele Players of Santa Cruz
Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom
Human Rights Organization
Village Music Circle Community Drummers (with Arthur Hull)
The Silk Road School of Sword and Self-Defense
Firedancers
Lee and his Fish Bike
Talempong Indonesian Ensemble
Sean's 2-story Petal-Powered Octopus
"Don't Tread On Me" horse and rider
The Giant Shitting Pigeon
Women in Black

Join us

Okay, enough hemming and hawing. It's time you sprung into action. Stop yer waitin' and seein'. The world's gonna pass you by and you'll be bummed.

Get on the email list and get updates.
Go to a Last Night Un-Planning Meeting.
Get a group together to particiapte in the celebration.

Last Night DIY Manifesto

2009-08-31T10:39:00.001-07:00

M A N I F E S T O

Last Night is a decentralized, collective, open, public New Year's Eve celebration in Santa Cruz, California. Last Night is a completely organic event, organized and put on at a grassroots-level. No city-sponsorship. No corporate donors. It’s a do-it-yourself (D.I.Y.) parade and celebration.

We write this manifesto in the spirit of understanding, in an attempt to communicate our intentions. The parade is not merely a celebration, but a celebration of the power that we all have when we gather together to make something happen. Not just a street party, but a party to reclaim our streets.

The celebration is decentralized -- no one person or group is making it happen. There is no central committee nor board of directors. No one is in charge, but we are all leaders. Decisions about route and timing and other tactical matters are made collectively by those willing to step up and make it happen. Collective simply means we all do it together.

We are not asking for permits and permission, nor are there any limits on participation. No one is in a position to restrict who can participate or in what way. People simply show up prepared to take part in a city-wide celebration. Our entire community is invited to participate and celebrate together.

The focus is on self-reliance. One of the most important aspects of the Last Night celebration is that people take responsibility for themselves and for their community. As such, parade "un-organizers" take pains to address issues such as security, traffic control, sanitation, clean-up, and police liaison.

Beyond the impossible barrier of the city's arduous and prohibitively expensive special event permit, the permit process itself is a racket. It is the process through which the city seeks to charge us for the privilege of exercising our rights to free speech and free assembly. Accepting a permit puts one person or group in the position of having to put controls on other people, lest someone damage their good standing with the authorities. Additionally, that person or group takes responsibility and liability for the actions of others. We don't want to be in that position, nor do we want someone to have that responsibility for us.

We want to live in a world full of play and celebration, where self-expression is a matter of course. A world full of surprises, in which relationships are authentic and open-ended. A world in which we share a direct connection to the world around us. Where one does not have to ask permission of authorities to realize one’s dreams of adventure and possibility.

Part of creating a new world is resistance to the old one, to the relentless commodification and control of everything, including celebration and the way we relate to each other.

When we ask permission to live our lives, to celebrate, to come together, to express dissent, we legitimate the power of institutions over us. We give up our power to make our own choices and become subject to the decisions of others who may or may not be acting in our interests.

Therefore, we are not seeking permits from the city. We refuse to ask permission to be free.

Last Night started in 2005 as a response to the implosion of the city-sponsored First Night celebration. That year, thousands of people came out to participate in the people’s parade that marched raucously up Pacific Avenue. The parade included the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra, martial arts displays, firedancers, the Santa Cruz Peace Coalition, Indonesian music, drum circles, floats, and the Opera Lady. The parade was high-energy and peaceful. There were no conflicts with police who’s light presence remained far on the periphery. The parade and it’s organizers represented a broad cross-section of the community.

In a typical overreaction of authority to the threat of people taking responsibility in their own lives, the Santa Cruz Police Department deployed undercover officers to infiltrate parade planning meetings for three months. Records released after the spying scandal came to light, revealed a pattern of abuses, including monitoring unrelated groups and other first amendment activities and compiling police dossiers of organizers. The city's own police auditor determined that police had violated the civil rights of parade organizers. After six months of effort, community, activist, and ACLU involvement, the city put in place a weak policy to curb some of the abuses of police power.

Love and Celebration,

Last Night Santa Cruz

About Last Night DIY Santa Cruz

2009-08-31T10:38:00.001-07:00

a do-it-yourself, decentralized, collective, open, public New Year's Eve celebration

What Is This?

The only parade where there are no spectators - only participants!

As opposed to the (now defunct) city-sponsored First Night, Last Night is a decentralized, collective, open, public New Year's Eve celebration.

DIY stands for do-it-yourself. And that is what we are doing. A little bit of planning, a little bit of work, some getting together. This is our celebration that you and I make happen. This is not a paid gig, not something organized or well-planned. It's a people's event. We are doing this just for the love of it.

The latin root of the word amateur means to love (as in te amo or mi amor). So an amateur is one who does something for the love of it. And in that sense, we are all amateurs here. Let downtown be filled with music and dancing as we ring in the new year!

A Do-It-Yourself Parade

How do you make a parade without the help of professional organizers, event wranglers, scheduled bands and performers, and any money whatsoever?

You just do it.

We are the organizers -- you and I. We tell our friends and they tell theirs. We commit to doing it because it's a swell idea and we make it happen. We call up improbable connections and talk people into it.

We have no scheduled bands and performers. We tell a bunch of people we know, all the talented jugglers and artists and musicians we know in town and do our best to sell them on this unlikely but alluring idea and see if they'll come.

We are participating in the Gift Economy. It is our gift to our community, to each other, and to ourselves. In the morning hours on January 1st we'll finally go to bed after the best New Year's celebration we can remember thinking, "Wow, did we really just pull that off?" And that will be all the payment any of us will need.

Logistics and the Devil in the Details

Meet at 5pm on New Year's Eve at Spruce and Pacific near the Saturn Lot.

The parade will start at sunset, 5pm or thereabouts. Immediately followed by a street party at a secret location. This is seats-of-the-pants un-organizing and plans are subject to all kinds of change. So make sure you and yours are on the announcement list so you can get up-to-the-minute notices.

A Celebration Without Permits and Permission

We're not asking for permits or permission. We're just gonna do it. We'll start at one end of the mall and march down Pacific. Extra bonus points if we can pull off a swell dance party to rollicking live music on the other end. This is your parade, your celebration, and your new year.

Its OUR city, not seven semi-elected smineless bureaucrats who meet now and then to tell us what we can and can't do. I don't expect them to approve. But then we're not asking for their approval either.

In our city, we give ourselves permission to celebrate. We give ourselves the okay to bring music and dancing and art out into the streets downtown.

No guarantees, but we can definitely say it will be fun trying. Instead of seeking permits from capricious and cautious city managers, how about instead we focus on seeing who's willing to take the risk of truly living without limits?

Want more of this rant? See our Last Night Manifesto.

A Street Party

At the end of the parade we're hoping for a robust, rollicking street party. We're hoping for an all live Brazillian, Indonesian, mariachi, funk, trash orchestra, fire dancing, get-down-with-your-bad-self shindig at a surprise location.

Get your groove on and prepare to dance until your parts are sore.

Who determines what kind of fun we will have? You do. We want to see the whole downtown turned into a giant block party. Start scheming about that performance you've been wanting to put on. Invite strangers. Invite friends. Invite neighbors. Kiss in a New Year into the wee hours. Make it a night.

Every year at midnight of the new year, our little town just sadly folds right up. The stroke of twelve is the traditional toll of doom to our community New Year's party.

But this year will be different. A Last Night of old traditions.

History

How did this get started? Check out the Last Night DIY history page.

From Recipies for Disaster - CrimethInc. Workers' Collective

Notes from 2008

2009-08-31T10:36:00.001-07:00

First, the details of this year's parade, similar to last year:

Meet at the Saturn Cafe lot, Pacific & Spruce
5pm Sunset on New Year's Eve
Parade will take off at 5:30pm
and end in a street party at Pacific & Cooper

So far, no "organizing" in the usual sense has been done. As a decentralized event, everyone who wants to see it happen has been making their own preparations and schemes. However, if you want to pull together an opportunity to scheme in concert, nothing is stopping you and we'll be there.

If you are planning something beyond the parade, contact info@lastnightdiy.org so we can help you list it here.

Notes from 2007

2009-08-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

We're wide open. The world is your oyster.

First, the details of this year's parade:

Meet at the Saturn Cafe parking lot, Pacific & Laurel
5pm Sunset on New Year's Eve
Parade will take off at 5:30pm
and end in a street party at Pacific & Cooper

Okay, now on to other things:

I'd like to invite you to help plan this year's downtown New Year's Eve celebration. Wanna help? It's a planning meeting & potluck. We are brainstorming this year's celebration, and there is all sorts of room and desire for music and politics, guerilla artists and art, intrigue and adventure.

This year we have even more ambitions plans that include a parade, street party, entertainment, and performers well into the night. We hope to attract musicians, street theater performers, puppet shows, square dancers, and circus acts to take over downtown for a whole evening of DIY adventure and entertainment.

And if you can't come to help plan, at least consider participating in the celebration on New Year's Eve. Not only a parade this year, but performances all over downtown.

I invite you to come Tuesday night 6pm

Tuesday Dec 11th 6pm
Tuesday Dec 18th 6pm
Thursday Dec 27th 6pm

I'd love to help inspire a DIY New Year's Parade and street party this year. But mostly, I want an opportunity to work with other people who want to help make this happen.

Last year's street party was a fabulous end to the parade. What can we do this year even more ambitious? My dream, and I'll share it with you just because you asked, is that we turn Santa Cruz New Year's Eve into a fabulous do-it-yourself Festival! All night long, happenings! Music, dance, fireworks, parade, street party, performance, food, art! All free, all participatory, all do-it-yourself. Not just mere spectacle, but people expressing themselves and connecting with each other.

So I hope to serve as a spark to the powder keg, not as an institutional voice of some faceless entity or organization. In other words, I feel like the beauty of this thing is that you and I do it together.

2009-08-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

Last Night is a do-it-yourself, decentralized, collective, spontaneous, open, public New Year's Eve celebration in Santa Cruz, California.

Meet at the Saturn Cafe lot, Pacific & Spruce
5pm Sunset on New Year's Eve
Parade will take off at 5:30pm
and end in a street party at Pacific & Cooper

Read the Last Night Manifesto

Last Night es una celebracion "hazlo tu mismo" del Ano Nuevo en Santa Cruz. Es un evento decentralizado, colectivo, espontaneo, abierto y publico.

Se reune detras del Saturn Cafe,
a la puesta del sol, 31 de diciemtre.
Que vengan todos!

News from 2006

2006-12-15T10:34:00.000-08:00

Critical Needs: How can you help?

Art&Revolution's Giant Puppets needs fifteen people to operate them.
The Trash Orchestra has more instruments than people to play them. We need ten more trash orchestra players (no previous percussion marching band experience necessary). Talk to us.
We need your help along with a half dozen people making Last Night banners
We need a dozen people in the parade's Sweeping Tail to clean up after the parade.
We need two experienced people to serve as police liaison
We need experienced people for help with traffic control, conflict management, police liaison, and safety and security
We (might) need lawyers and legal support
If you are an experienced videographer, we need you to document the parade
We need still photographers to document the parade

The Third (and Final) 2006 Last Night Un-Organizing Meeting

Last Night-ers,

Our next "un-organizing" meeting is tomorrow, Monday December 18th, at 7PM at 132 Kennan Street (off Ocean), same place as last week.

See y'all there!

The Second 2006 Last Night Un-Organizing Meeting

This Year's Next Un-Planning Meeting!

The first meeting rocked. We figured some figuring, and we discussed some discussing.

We talked about who we wanted to get involved, the highlights of last year, and what we wanted to be even better than last year!

AND we set up the NEXT Un-Planning Meeting

Same Place- 132 Kennan St.

Same People- Everyone

New time! 7 PM, Monday 12/11/06

Bring New Ideas, Friends, Yourself!

The First 2006 Last Night Un-Organizing Meeting

What were the details on the last one?

This year's first Un-Planning Meeting is on! December 2nd, at 6 PM!

We'll be meeting at Jeremy's House, at 132 Kennan St.(Off of Ocean street, between water street and Hwy 17)

What should I bring? Everything!

Ideas, Munchies, Friends, and Dreams are all reccomended.

Who should I tell? Everyone!

Neighbors, Friends, Accomplices, Creative/SparkPlug-ey people, DIY-ers, Strangers.

This is a get-together to germinate ideas and foment action. Bring your best idea-seeds, and action-fertilizer.

First Meeting Flier
(See the downloads page for more fliers.)

Here We Go

2006-11-13T22:08:00.000-08:00

A New Year's Eve parade of freaks, clowns, gamelan, politics, fire, samba drums, punks, pirates, art, bikes, hippies, art cars, zombies, marching bands, moms, dads, kids, and music. And afterward, a rollicking drum-dance party -- an all-live Brazilian, Indonesian, mariachi, funk, trash orchestra hoedown at a surprise location.

It’s a do-it-yourself parade and celebration. That means we make it happen together. No city-sponsorship. No corporate donors. We reclaim our streets and usher in the new year with our own celebration.

News From 2005

2005-12-15T10:33:00.000-08:00

Why are we here?

We all came with different but similar hopes for Last Night. Here are some of the broad variety of reasons we are involved in this do-it-yourself event:

self-reliance
new exciting experience
fun and a good time
free-expression
empowerment
blowing minds
revolution
political involvement
developing alternative community
showing the power of the people
seeing more whimsy in our town
developing DIY culture
community
great music
bone-shaking percussion
and a rollicking good time

Are we really going to do this?

We asked ourselves this question early on at the first meeting. Talking about whether we wanted to have a do-it-yourself Last Night parade and hoohaw, the vibe was less like, "Sure, okay," and more like "Yo, hell, yeah." The enthusiasm was inspiring.

The number of groups who've told us they were committed to participating in the parade has steadily grown. And as we get closer to the date, the pace has increased. The event has a life of its own beyond the few original un-organizers. And that is as it should be.

Starting out

After some discussion, we arrived at a staging place and time:

Meet 5pm New Year's Eve at the Saturn Cafe Lot

We chose to make the parade early in the evening (rather than closer to midnight) for several reasons: 1) Shortly after sunset is the traditional time of the First Night procession, 2) lower ratio of drunks to the rest of us, 3) lower ratio of law enforcement to civilians, and 4) it gives parade participants a chance to make other plans later in the evening.

Self-reliance and responsibility

We've talked a lot about security and safety. To that end we are still seeking an experienced group to help with that. We were interested in contacting several volunteer groups that some un-organizers know from other events.

Additionally, safety is a concern for the stilters and firedancers within the parade. We want to make sure there is an adequate perimeter for spectators and other parade participants.

We were concerned about any litter or mess that the parade might leave behind. So we planned to create a Sweeping Tail that cleans up after the parade. We still need people to help organize and participate in this.

We are not asking the city for extra sanitation support, so we ask parade participants and spectators to not burden downtown businesses and take care of their business before they leave home if you can. After all, we each want to take responsibility for ourselves, ya?

How about outreach to other folks in the community?

We want to target our recruiting efforts to groups doing awesome stuff (bicycle folx, drum bands, political groups, clowns, pirates, street theater performers).

There are still segments of the community we feel are not represented. Where are our Samba bands? Political groups? Marching bands? Art cars? Zombies? Wacky fashion designers? Pirates? People of color? Kids? Where are the children?

We'd still like to see a coalition of the homeless marching proudly. Here is an important part of our town that is invisible most of the time -- how about at least one day of the year our homeless citizens can march proudly as members of our community.

People with connections to different groups are encouraged to talk to the people they know and see if they can get a commitment to participating in the parade. Also, people can make (and have made) fliers and handbills tailored for groups they'd like to see in the parade. Check out the Last Night fliers and handbills in our download section. Feel free to print and distribute them.

How about the drum-dance thing?

After some discussion, we have potential sites (and alternates) for the all-live acoustic hoedown after the parade. This will be a central location near the heart of downtown and should be a fun way to end our first Last Night DIY new years celebration. The parade will lead us all to the secret location of the drum-dance celebration.

Is there still a chance to get involved?

There is a lot that still needs to be done. And we need lots of help. Here is a quick list of critical Last Night needs. Email us as soon as possible if you can help.

people for the parade's Sweeping Tail that cleans up after us
people to operate Art&Revolution's Giant Puppets
experienced group for safety and security
lawyers and legal support (you know, just in case)
an experienced videographer to document the parade
still photographers to document
people to play in the Trash Orchestra (no previous percussion marching band experience necessary)
Last Night banners

Check out this list of 7 ways you can get involved.

You can post to the email list and keep the discussion going. Or you can hop on the Last Night discussion.

The Last Night Un-Planning Meetings: A Recap

The un-planning meetings we've had so far have been exciting. Great to meet all the un-organizers of Last Night, ordinary people who've decided that we want to make this happen.

First Last Night Un-Planning Meeting: Discussed (Oct 29): intros, publicity, what this is, stuff happening, developing plans, after celebration, a sweeping tail, giveaways, what if the city hosts their own procession? police liaison.

Second Last Night Un-Planning Meeting: (Nov 19) Discussed: intros/check-in, next steps, outreach, safety and security, police/city liaison, documentation

Third Last Night Un-Planning Meeting: (Dec 5) Discussed: intros/check-in, starting/staging point, starting time, who else is in? outreach, revised media guidelines, legal support, safety, police/city liaison, documentation

Forth Last Night Un-Planning Meeting: (Dec 17) Discussed: intros/check-in, what's happened so far, updates, who's in, outreach, safety and security, documentation, legal support, and next steps

Fifth and last Last Night Un-Planning Meeting: Thu Dec 29 at 6pm, location TBD.

Trash Orchestra Build and Practice Days

The Trash Orchestra Build and Practice Days have been great! We've built our instruments and practiced a good bit. We now have more trash orchestra instruments than people to play them. So there are openings in the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra.

At first, we found that we were good at making noise, less good at making it sound pleasant or interesting. But with a little practice and some planning, we are sounding great. Or at least, great for a bunch of amateurs pounding on trash!

We'll be having one big practice the day before New Year's on Friday the 30th of December. 6pm to 8pm at the fish in front of the Cooper House and Cinema 9. Be there at 6pm sharp. Join us and bring a friend! This is your last chance to practice before the Last Night parade. We have a trash percussion instrument for you.

scratch

2002-08-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

Last Night DIY

Welcome to DIY Last Night

Meet at the Saturn Cafe lot, Pacific & Spruce5pm Sunset on New Year's Eve

Parade will take off at 5:30pmand end in a street party at Pacific & Cooper

Fliers and Handbills

Harassment of local activist continues as city tries to put an end to Last Night DIY Parade

Wes Modes targeted as city tries to put an end to Last Night DIY parade

Contact Last Night DIY

Email

Want to Perform?

Announcement List

Press

Photos

Press Coverage 2007

Press Coverage 2006

Press Coverage 2005

Press Releases

Police Spying Aftermath

Join Last Night DIY

Or Ease In - a step by step guide

en espanol

Desfile de la Ultima Noche

Se reune detras del Saturn Cafe,a la puesta del sol, 31 de diciembre.Que vengan todos!

Manifiesto de la Ultima Noche

Contacto

Last Night Gallery

Last Night 2008

Last Night 2007

Last Night 2006

Last Night History

A Brief History of Last Night (and Some Great Local History)

Police Spying Aftermath

Santa Cruz DIY Celebration History

Anecdotes and Other Stuff

Who Makes This Happen

Who Puts on This Celebration

Who's Participated in This In the Past?

Join us

Last Night DIY Manifesto

About Last Night DIY Santa Cruz

What Is This?

A Do-It-Yourself Parade

Logistics and the Devil in the Details

A Celebration Without Permits and Permission

A Street Party

History

From Recipies for Disaster - CrimethInc. Workers' Collective

Notes from 2008

Notes from 2007

Meet at the Saturn Cafe lot, Pacific & Spruce5pm Sunset on New Year's EveParade will take off at 5:30pmand end in a street party at Pacific & Cooper

Se reune detras del Saturn Cafe,a la puesta del sol, 31 de diciemtre.Que vengan todos!

News from 2006

Critical Needs: How can you help?

The Third (and Final) 2006 Last Night Un-Organizing Meeting

The Second 2006 Last Night Un-Organizing Meeting

The First 2006 Last Night Un-Organizing Meeting

Here We Go

News From 2005

Why are we here?

Are we really going to do this?

Starting out

Self-reliance and responsibility

How about outreach to other folks in the community?

How about the drum-dance thing?

Is there still a chance to get involved?

The Last Night Un-Planning Meetings: A Recap

Trash Orchestra Build and Practice Days

scratch

Meet at the Saturn Cafe lot, Pacific & Spruce
5pm Sunset on New Year's Eve

Parade will take off at 5:30pm
and end in a street party at Pacific & Cooper

Se reune detras del Saturn Cafe,
a la puesta del sol, 31 de diciembre.
Que vengan todos!

Meet at the Saturn Cafe lot, Pacific & Spruce
5pm Sunset on New Year's Eve
Parade will take off at 5:30pm
and end in a street party at Pacific & Cooper

Se reune detras del Saturn Cafe,
a la puesta del sol, 31 de diciemtre.
Que vengan todos!