Cal Botanic Garden is opening its Forest Pavilion for a live music night in 20th August. Zach Tenorio & Friends, with Dave Harrington, Aaron Steele, and Spencer Zahn, will fill the space with sound while the plants around them keep growing quietly in the background.

Living Earth and Solarc Brewing are behind the evening too. It is one more reason a garden can be a gathering place, not just a spot you walk through on a quiet afternoon.

Quick details

Here is what you need to know if you want to go.

  • Event: Garden Groove featuring Zach Tenorio & Friends, with Dave Harrington, Aaron Steele, and Spencer Zahn
  • Presented by: Living Earth and Solarc Brewing
  • Where: Forest Pavilion, California Botanic Garden
  • Date: 20 August, 2026
  • Time: gates open at 6 PM, music starts at 7 PM
  • Tickets: $21 general, $16 senior or student, $7 child (3 to 12), members get $5 off
  • Drinks: Solarc will sell Taste Wild beer and tea made from plants grown at the Garden
  • Check California Botanic Garden hours before you go, since the pavilion event runs later than the regular visiting hours

What happens at Garden Groove at Cal Botanic Garden?

Garden Groove is built around one idea. Music and plants share a stage, and neither one has to compete for your attention. The Forest Pavilion becomes a concert hall shaped by trees instead of walls.

Garden Groove at Cal Botanic Garden

The lineup behind the evening

Zach Tenorio is a keyboardist known for hosting gatherings and pulling friends into one room to play together. Dave Harrington brings a loose, improvised style shaped by years in jazz and electronic music. Aaron Steele and Spencer Zahn round out the group with backgrounds in touring bands and solo composition.

Together they build a set that changes shape as the night goes on. It is the kind of evening that reminds us why our own One Room Many Plants program exists too, since both come down to bringing people into a shared green space.

Why You Should Join Garden Groove 

A night at California Botanic Garden gives you more than a concert ticket. It puts you in a space built around growing things, with music layered on top.

  • You get to hear a live band in a setting no regular venue can offer, surrounded by trees instead of a stage backdrop
  • Your ticket includes admission to the Garden itself, so you can walk the grounds before the show starts
  • You can order a Cheese Cave platter ahead of time for a relaxed picnic before the music begins
  • You support Living Earth and Solarc Brewing, two small groups working to connect people with outdoor spaces, the same goal behind our own plant program
  • Nights like this fit the same spirit we saw covering the Juneteenth Celebration at Harlem, where music and green space brought neighbors together in one place
  • If you enjoyed our post on Gardening in the Fourth of July, this concert offers a similar chance to spend an evening outdoors with people who care about plants

Who Should Join Garden Groove at Cal Botanic Garden

Garden Groove works for a wide range of people, not just concert regulars.

Join Garden Groove
  • Music fans who enjoy jazz, improvisation, or genre-blending sets will find plenty to like in this lineup
  • Garden members looking for a discount on tickets and drinks get extra value from a night they may already plan to attend
  • Families can bring kids along, especially with the child ticket price, and use it as an early evening outing before dinner
  • Parents who already set up a mud kitchen DIY spot at home will find plenty here to keep kids curious about plants and dirt long after the concert ends
  • Anyone curious about California Botanic Garden jobs or volunteering can use the night to see the grounds up close and ask staff questions in person
  • Local plant lovers can pull up the California Botanic Garden map ahead of time to explore other parts of the Garden before heading to the pavilion

In closing

Garden Groove at Cal Botanic Garden brings music, plants, and community together for one evening. If you want more events like this, or you are curious about our One Room Many Plants program, reach out to Garden Mysteries. We would love to hear from you.