Events

Waterfront Crab Fest
Held in early February
Location: Waterfront Park on Front Street
916-442-8575
Crab fest is back in the tent at Waterfront Park on Front Street in Old Sacramento. Plenty of all you can eat fresh hot cooked crab, pasta, salad and anti-pasta, spirits, dancing and entertainment from 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

Festival Italiano
Held in late March
Location: Dante Club
916-359-0618
A fun-filled evening of good food, wine and entertainment, including a delicious Italian dinner, door prizes and an Italian auction.

Women's History Day
Held in late March
Location: Old Sacramento
916-558-3912
Join the Old Sacramento Living History Program re-enactors as they demonstrate what life was like for women in the late 1800's as they struggled to make their mark. Witness sufferance rallies, protests and other scenes featuring the struggles that women faced.

Steam-powered Excursions
Held April - October
Location: California State Railroad Museum
916-445-6645
Regular steam-powered excursion trains depart Saturdays and Sundays on-the-hour 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. from the Central Pacific Freight Depot and Public Market in Old Sacramento. Climb aboard the Museum's Sacramento Southern Railroad every weekend for a relaxing 40-minute, 6-mile roundtrip ride on the banks of the Sacramento River. Experience the sights, smells, and sounds of a real, working steam locomotive as it pulls vintage passenger coaches and converted freight cars along a former Southern Pacific Railroad branch line.

Sacramento Valley Scottish Games & Festival
Held in late April
Location: Yolo County Fair Grounds
916- 557-0764
Traditional Scottish Competitions that began more than a century ago. Three days of fun and games including sheepdog trails, tug-o-war, bagpipe bands, fiddling, harping and vendors peddling Scottish wares.

Annual Festival de la Familia
Held in late April
Location: Cal Expo
916-443-6223
An annual celebration of Latino culture featuring luscious food, live entertainment and lots of fun.

Annual Designer Showcase House
Held in early - mid May
Location: In Sacramento's Sierra Oaks neighborhood
916-437-1649
The Junior League of Sacramento presents its Annual Designer Showcase House.

Sacramento County Fair
Held in early May
Location: Cal Expo
916-263-2975
Exotic petting zoo, children's hands-on activities and thousands of exhibits.

Senior Games Sacramento Sports Classic
Held in mid May
Location: Varies throughout Sacramento
916-277-6046
Interested in participating in competitive sports? The California Senior Games Sacramento Sports Classic is an annual event that offers athletic competition for adults age 50 years and older. The games are a multi-sport event for men and women patterned after the "Olympics" and held at various locales throughout the Sacramento area. There are 20 various sporting events offered such as, archery, basketball, bowling, cycling, race walk, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track and field. Competitors from all over Northern California participate each year. The Senior Games offers something for everyone's skill level and interest.

The West Coast Brewer's Festival
Held in mid May
Location: Sacramento Miller Park
The West Coast Brewers Festival celebrates the significance of California, Washington and Oregon in the development of the Micro Brew industry.

Jazz Jubilee
Held in late May
Location: Varies in Sacramento
One of the world's largest traditional jazz festivals presents more than 125 bands from around the world and across the United States each year on Memorial Day weekend. In addition to the best traditional jazz, the festival includes several other jazz-related music styles such as big band, barbershop, blues, gospel, Latin jazz/salsa, swing, Western swing and zydeco.

Pony Express Re-Ride
Held in early June
Location: Old Sacramento
916-558-3912
Pony Express riders gallop west across the historic Pony Express Trail of 1860 - 1861 and end their 1,966 mile route in Old Sacramento at the Pony Express.

Juneteenth Celebration
Held in mid June
Location: Granite Regional Park
916- 808-7739
A Celebration of Freedom. Thousands gather at Granite Regional Park for a festive day of entertainment. Juneteenth begins with a Friday night Gospel concert, followed by Saturday in the park and The Black Rodeo on Sunday at Cal Expo.

Renaissance Faire
Held mid July - mid August
Location: Stafford Lake Park, Marin County
415-897-4555
The wildly authentic pleasures and colorful pageantry of a lusty Elizabethan country fair are brought to vivid life by the Heart of the Forest Renaissance Faire, bursting with high spirits and ancient seasonal traditions.

Sacramento French Film Festival
Held in mid July
Location: Crest Theatre
916-453-1723
Dedicated to celebrating the present as well as the history of French cinema by showing new French films as well as rarely seen French classics. Since its inception, the Festival has also involved the Sacramento art community by including short films from Sacramento filmmakers in its selection and original artwork by a Sacramento photographer in its posters.