Sierras and Gold Country Festivals – 2024
Outdoor adventures, visiting cool little museums and sampling tasty Sierra Foothills wines are just a few of the many things to see and do in the Sierras and Gold Country area, but including a local event on your itinerary will almost certainly add to the fun. Some people even plan their trips around these dates!
Whether you’re headed to Lake Tahoe for the weekend or putting together a week’s vacation plan and searching for food and wine events in Gold Country’s various towns, the festivals list below can help you easily determine if there’s one happening during your visit. The list is arranged by month, and you’ll notice that the spring and fall seasons are the most popular time for events of this type, and that’s because the summers here can get a bit warm. Spring and fall are fabulous, though!
You’ll find a bunch of festivals in Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, as well as in Mammoth Lakes and all the historic Gold Country towns.
You may also notice that wine is a popular draw, which is quite fitting since the area is known for its award-winning vines. Alternatively, many of the events feature beer, and music is often thrown into the mix for good measure. There’s truly something for everyone in this area.
For each entry on the list, you’ll find the date(s) it’s scheduled to occur, the host city, plus a link to a website that provides additional details. We recommend you make note of the website because it’s wise to check again and verify the event details closer to the actual date.
The list includes mostly 2024 festivals dates at this point, but there are still some 2023 dates, as well. ***Events for which a 2024 date is available are marked with a triple-asterisk.***
Many of these are annual events that are held around the same time every year. While we plan to check and update this list from time to time, if a 2023 event looks interesting you can always click through to see if the organizer’s website has been updated.
You may just want to browse the list to see if any of the festivals especially appeal to you. Or, if your travel dates are already set, you can use these handy jump links to advance to a specific month’s events quickly:
January ### February ### March ### April ###
May ### June ### July ### August ###
September ### October ### November ### December
January
Twain Harte Soroptimist Crab Feed at Tuolumne Memorial Hall, Tuolumne City
January 13, 2024***
Burns Night Supper, Placerville
January 25, 2024***
Yosemite Chef’s Holidays
CANCELLED until repairs are completed
February
Mariposa Lions Club Crab Feed
February 3, 2024***
Lake Tulloch Lions Club
Crab Feed, Copperopolis
February 3, 2024*** (first Saturday in February)
Nevada City Mardi Gras Celebration
February 10, 2024***
Snowfest, Tahoe City
February 29 through March 10, 2024***
March
St. Piran’s Day Festival, Grass Valley
March 2, 2024***
The Foothills Celebration, Grass Valley
March 16, 2024***
Behind the Cellar Door, Amador County
March 23 & 24, 2024***
April
Taste of Mariposa
April 6, 2024***
Wildflowers and Wine, Sutter Creek
April 7, 2024***
Cabernet Franc Wine Stroll, Copperopolis
April 13, 2024***
Taco Throwdown, Roseville
April 20, 2024*** – 21+ Only!
THE GREAT OUT THERE Passport Weekend, El Dorado County
April 20 & 21, 2024***
Lincoln Wine Fest
April 27, 2024***
Calaveras Spring Wine Weekend, Murphys
April 27 & 28, 2024***
May
The Bash, Roseville
May 2, 2024***
Amador Four Fires Festival
May 4, 2024***
Calaveras County Fair & Frog
Jumping Jubilee, Angels Camp
May 16-19, 2024***
Made in Tahoe Festival, Palisades Tahoe
May 25 & 26, 2024***
June
Rocklin Brewfest
June 1, 2024***
Placer Wine & Ale Trail
Summer Passport (various venues)
June 1 through September 20, 2024***
Wine on the Water Wine Dinner
at the North Tahoe Event Center, Kings Beach
June 8, 2024***
Tahoe City Food & Wine Classic
June 8, 2024***
El Dorado County Fair
June 13-16, 2024***
Truckee Thursdays (11-week street festival)
June 20 through August 15, 2024***
Placer County Fair, Roseville
June 20-23, 2024***
Lavender Blue Festival, Apple Hill
June 22 & 23 AND June 29 & 30, 2024***
Mother Lode Fair, Sonora
June 27-30, 2024***
July
Mammoth Jazzfest Wine Walk
July 12, 2024***
Apple Hill Growers Farm-to-Fork Dinner, Camino
July 20, 2024***
Amador County Fair
July 25-28, 2024***
Mammoth Villagefest
July 26 & 27, 2024***
Bass Lake Fest
July 26-28, 2024***
Taste of Calaveras at TBD
July 27, 2024***
August
Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza, Mammoth Lakes
August 1-4, 2024***
Barbera Festival, Plymouth
August 3, 2024***
Nevada County Fair, Grass Valley
August 7-11, 2024***
Mammoth Margarita Festival
August 9 & 10, 2024***
Taste of Gold, South Lake Tahoe
August 10, 2024***
Mammoth Wine Weekend
August 15-17, 2024***
Brews, Jazz & Funk Fest, Palisades Tahoe
August 17, 2024***
Mammoth Rocks Taste of the Sierra
August 23 & 24, 2024***
All American Rib Cookoff, Auburn
August 24, 2024***
Tahoe Brewfest, South Lake Tahoe
August 24, 2024***
Tri-County Fair, Bishop
August 29 through September 1, 2024***
Mammoth Rock N Rye Whiskey Festival
August 30 through September 1, 2024***
Mariposa County Fair
August 30 through September 2, 2024***
September
Alpen Wine Fest, Palisades Tahoe
September 1, 2024***
Guitar Strings vs. Chicken Wings, Palisades Tahoe
September 6, 2024***
Aloha Festival, Auburn
September 14, 2024***
Placer Wine & Ale Trail Winemaker &
Brewer’s BBQ, Gold Hill Gardens in Newcastle
September 20, 2024***
Downieville Mountain Brew Fest
September 21, 2024***
Tahoe City Oktoberfest
September 21, 2024***
Oktoberfest, Palisades Tahoe
September 28, 2024***
Downtown Grass Valley Brewfest
September 28, 2024***
Coulterville CoyoteFest
September 28 & 29, 2024***
El Dorado Hills Brewfest
September 9, 2023
Fiddletown Fiddlers’ Jam
September 16, 2023
October
June Lake Autumn Beer Festival
October 5, 2024***
Truckee Wine Walk
October 5, 2024***
Amador Big Crush Harvest Festival
October 5 & 6, 2024***
Columbia State Park Harvest Festifall
October 12 & 13, 2024***
Springville Apple Festival
October 19, 2024***
Mariposa Friends of the Fair Sausage & Suds Event
October 26, 2024***
Oktoberfest on Main Street, Placerville
October 7, 2023
Calaveras Grape Stomp, Murphys
October 7, 2023
Loomis Eggplant Festival
October 7, 2023
Bacon & Brew Bash, Roseville
October 14, 2023
November
Foothill Wine Festival, Folsom
November 2, 2024***
Mountain Mandarin Festival
Gold Country Fairgrounds, Auburn
November 22-24, 2024***
Cornish Christmas Street Fair, Grass Valley
November 29th, 2024*** (6-9pm)
December
Murphys Open House
December 6, 2024*** (first Friday in December)
Cornish Christmas Street Fair, Grass Valley
Fridays – December 6, 13 AND 20, 2024*** (6-9pm)
Nevada City Victorian Christmas
Sundays – December 8, 15, & 22, 2024*** (1:30-6pm)
Wednesdays – December 11 & 18, 2024*** (5-9pm)
Auburn Old Town Christmas
December 9 and December 16, 2023
Yosemite Bracebridge Dinners
CANCELLED until repairs are complete
Yosemite Grand Vintner’s Holidays
CANCELLED until repairs are complete
If you know of any other Sierras and Gold County festivals that we should add to this list, would you please use our Contact form to let us know? (Thanks in advance!)
Photo of Fiddletown Fiddler’s Jam Festival by Bruno Rijsman via flickr (Creative Commons).
