Mic Drop!

Name: Mic Drop!
Start: 2026-02-22T17:30:00-08:00
End: 2026-02-22T21:00:00-08:00
Location: The 418 Project (Small Theater)

with DJ Jessie Marie and Emcee Gregory Speed Sr.

Session Date & Time

Feb 22 2026 (Sunday)

5:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Location

The 418 Project

In the: Small Theater

Ticket sales concluded. This session has already taken place.

About This Event

Last Sundays 5:15pm 5 minute Sign-ups Begin 5:30pm to 8:30pm Open Mic Entry: $7-10

Mic Drop is an “All the Way Open” Open Mic! featuring a featured artist. 5-minute sets are available, all modalities of expression are welcome and encouraged.

Mic Drop is an "ALL the Way Open" Community Open Mic that meets once per month, every Last Sunday 5:30pm-8:30pm. with a 5 min sign up list. Our intention is to come together to provide a safe space for unseen, unheard groups allowing them to realize they are valuable, worthy of being heard, seen, & have great potential. For the last 3 years we've hosted a diverse hip hop crowd as well as acoustic guitar players, pianists, singers, poets and spoken word artists, occasional dancers, comedians, & theater performances. We have an on going partnership with The 418 Project in Santa Cruz as our home, our shared goal is to provide people from all walks of life & all creative levels a safe space to express themselves and share their life experiences and talents, in a beautiful professional space.

Additionally as open mic veterans (all of our organizers have lead Art and Music Events in the community), we know the value and magic of how being received and reflected by a community, and feeling welcomed is, as well as encouraged and supported can change a life. In addition to booking and acquiring submission packets from our planned featured artists every month and preparing to launch the event, we utilize an active weekly presence on our Instagram & Facebook pages, as well as sharing our live streams on our Youtube Channel. Every month we share about our features, as well as creating a unique expressive social media presence. We additionally share events, videos, & photography from the arts community at large in Santa Cruz on our Instagram.

We have always found ways to bring the community together every month, this is very much a labor of love. The community shows us how invaluable this space is for all of us to share our expressions consistently.

Event Producer

Resident Artist

Jessie Marie

Jessie Marie has worked extensively as a community organizer stemming from her experiences in life as a poet, visual artist (photography and painting) and as a musician focused on creating access and experiences with the arts & music communities and marginalized communities throughout the greater Bay Area. Through her love of expressive art and music and its healing potential, she started doing live performance art in the San Francisco and the Berkeley music scene around 2005 and has collaborated and fostered creativity publicly ever since. She founded Mic Drop! in 2021 and has curated this event into what it is today bringing in a fierce team of extraordinary Artists to run it alongside her over the years. She is a local avid photographer for many events and performers, as well as a an artist showing in galleries around the Bay Area over many years. Be it through creating brave spaces that encourage creativity and healing through all forms of expressions, or through her own creative endeavors in partnership with others, Jessie Marie has continuously poured into community as an essential part of her life balance.

View Artist Profile & Portfolio

Mic Drop! Instagram Mic Drop! Youtube Channel Mic Drop! FB Page

Visiting The 418 Project: What to Expect

House guidelines to ensure a welcoming, inclusive space for everyone

We are committed to a safe, welcoming environment where everyone is treated with cultural and personal respect across all backgrounds and identities. We hold the highest standards for consent—in movement, touch, and conversation. Always check in first, honor boundaries, and ensure that consent is clear, voluntary, and ongoing.

As a community-run non-profit collective with a small staff, we cannot clean everything after every event. Please help us care for the space by picking up after yourself, placing recycling and compost in the bins provided, and treating every room with kindness so it remains welcoming for the next gathering.

We have a filtered water bottle refill station on-site, so feel free to bring a refillable bottle. All restrooms are all-gender, ADA-accessible, and located conveniently on the ground floor.

To ensure everyone can breathe and move comfortably—especially community members with chemical sensitivities and asthma—The 418 Project is a low-fragrance space. Please refrain from applying perfumes, scented colognes, or strongly scented lotions before attending.

As an artist-driven non-profit collective, we believe movement and art should be accessible to all regardless of financial circumstances. Many events feature sliding scale tickets, and we offer work-trade opportunities for community members who wish to volunteer in exchange for admission.

Explore volunteer & work-trade opportunities

Plan Your Visit

Venue & Accessibility

The 418 Project is located in downtown Santa Cruz. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming space for all dancers, artists, and community members.

Address: 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Accessibility: Ground floor entrances & all-gender accessible restrooms

Parking: On-street parking & nearby River Street public garage

Get Directions on Google Maps