Summer BBQ & Dance
Saturday, August 22, 2026 | Doors 5:30 PM, music from 5:50, dancing till 11 | Boulder Creek Fire Station, 13230 Central Ave
Once a year the doors of the Boulder Creek firehouse open for the best party in the San Lorenzo Valley. Your firefighters cook the tri-tip, the apparatus bay fills with dinner tables, and out back the parking lot becomes a stage and dance floor under the redwoods. Bring the whole family. Every ticket goes straight to new rescue and medical equipment for our community.
BBQ Dinner
Tri-tip, chicken, and all the sides, cooked by your firefighters and served at long tables in the apparatus bay. Cold beer and drinks for sale. Dinner from 5:30.
Live Music and Dancing
Three bands on the outdoor stage out back, with dancing under the open sky. Kentucky Mule at 5:50, Barnstormer at 7:30, and Bootleg Country Band at 9:15, and the last dance at 11.
Kids Zone
Bounce house and face painting. Kids under 5 get in free. Walkable from downtown, so bring the whole crew.
Tickets
- $30 for dinner and dance
- Free for kids under 5
- $100 family four-pack, online only
Buy online in advance, or pay at the door.
The Raffle
One hundred prizes this year, every one of them donated. Many came from businesses within a few miles of the firehouse, and the rest from national brands that back volunteer fire departments.
Firefighter gear, dinners all over the valley, days out, spa and self care, prizes for the dog and for the cat, and a table full of things for the house and garden.
Every dinner and dance ticket comes with one free raffle entry, handed to you at the door. Extra entries are $5 each, or five for $20, sold at the prize table on the night.
California law allows a registered nonprofit raffle to be sold in person only, so there is nothing to buy online and nothing to add to your ticket. Just find the prize table when you arrive.
The drawing happens later in the evening and you need to be there to win, so stick around.
A raffle entry is not a tax-deductible donation, because you are buying a chance to win. Gifts to the department through the donate page are.
Every dollar stays in Boulder Creek
The Summer BBQ is the department's biggest fundraiser of the year. Proceeds buy new rescue and medical equipment for the all-volunteer crew that has protected the San Lorenzo Valley since 1892.
Can't make it?
You can still support the crew. Every gift buys rescue and medical equipment, and about 97% of what's collected goes straight to it.
Thank you to our sponsors
These businesses and neighbours put their name and their money behind the night before a single ticket was sold. The department is grateful to every one of them.
Big Basin Electric · Bogard Construction · Boulder Creek Antiques at Mac's Place · Christianson Tree Experts · Joel Busa, Water Treatment Operator · Kaplan Chiropractic · Liberty Bank · Mountain Mechanics · Robert Bimbi Construction · ROOM Real Estate · Spa Santangelo · Stevie Markey Construction · Travis Martin Plumbing · Waterfall Lodge and Retreat
Thank you to our raffle prize donors
One hundred prizes came from these businesses, many from right here in the valley and others from national brands that back volunteer crews.
Air & Fire: A Mystical Bazaar · Ambitious Harvest · Annieglass · Beck's Shoes · Boulder Creek Local · Byington Vineyard & Winery · Coast Products · Coaxsher · Community Mountain Gym · Conterra Technical Systems · Danner Boots · Discretion Brewing · Doughlicious Farmstand · Dynomite Farm · EarthWise Pet Scotts Valley · Erik's DeliCafe · Fire Axe Inc. · Fire Dept Coffee · Fire Maul Tools · Freedom Bakery & Confections · Fruition Brewing · GORUCK · Hair Hut · Ibis Cycles · Jenna Sue's Cafe · L.N. Curtis & Sons · Laili · Liberty Bank · Lillian's Italian Kitchen · LoneStar Axe · Messy Play Kits · Mount Hermon Adventures · Mountain Feed & Farm Supply · MSA Safety · Pacific Cookie Company · Pet Shop Santa Cruz · Red Pearl Chinese Cuisine · Redback Boots · San Jose Giants · Santa Cruz Skateboards · Scarborough Lumber · Scopazzi's Restaurant & Lounge · Shanty Shack Brewing · Sirius K9 Training · Spa Santangelo · Spyderco · Stagnaro Charter Boats · Stumptown Supply · SuperNatural Beauty · Tae's Edo Sushi Bar · The Pizza Series · tonies · Verve Coffee Roasters · Viscosity Glass · Waterous · Wildstone Bakery · Winchester Mystery House
Thank you for the rest of the night
Not everything donated ends up on a prize table. Our thanks to Gregg Schlaman and Cody Muhly at Inversion Wines for the bar, to A Tool Shed for the generator, and to Driscoll's for the berries. None of it gets raffled, and the evening does not happen without it.
Questions
Call the station at (831) 338-7222, or message the Boulder Creek Volunteer Fire Department on Facebook.