Sierras and Gold Country Festivals – 2023
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!
The festivals list below, arranged by month, can help you easily determine if there’s one happening during your visit. 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 dates for 2022 festivals as well as some with 2023 dates. ***Events for which a 2023 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 2022 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
Burns Night Supper, Placerville
January 25, 2023***
Yosemite Chef’s Holidays
CANCELLED for 2023***
February
Mariposa Lions Club Crab Feed
February 4, 2023***
Valentine’s Day Food and Wine Pairing
at Lusso Della Terra Winery, Fiddletown
February 10-12, 2023***
Mardi Gras Celebration, Lusso Della Terra, Fiddletown
February 17-19, 2023***
Nevada City Mardi Gras Celebration
February 19, 2023***
March
Snowfest, Tahoe City
March 2-12, 2023***
St. Piran’s Day Festival, Grass Valley
March 4, 2023***
The Foothills Celebration, Grass Valley
March 18, 2023***
Behind the Cellar Door, Amador County
March 25 & 26, 2023***
April
Taste of Mariposa
April 1, 2023***
Lodi Wine Festival
April 1, 2023***
THE GREAT OUT THERE Passport Weekend, El Dorado County
April 22 & 23, 2023***
Lincoln Wine Fest
April 29, 2023*** – Tickets on sale December 1, 2022!
Foothill Wine Festival, Folsom
April 2, 2022
May
El Dorado Hills Art, Beer & Wine Festival
May 13 & 14, 2023***
Placer Wine & Ale Trail
Summer Passport (various venues)
May 15 thru August 31, 2023***
Westside Tribute Band Brew Fest, Tuolumne
May 20, 2023***
Made in Tahoe Festival, Palisades Tahoe
May 27 & 28, 2023***
Amador Four Fires Festival
May 7, 2022 – SOLD OUT
June
Rocklin Brewfest
June 3, 2023***
Sample the Sierra, South Lake Tahoe
June 10, 2023***
El Dorado County Fair
June 15-18, 2023***
Lavender Blue Festival, Apple Hill
June 17 & 18 AND June 24 & 25, 2023***
RIDGE Vineyards Weekend Getaway, Lake Tahoe
June 22-25, 2023***
Placer County Fair, Roseville
June 22-25, 2023***
Mother Lode Fair, Sonora
June 29 through July 2, 2023***
Truckee Thursdays (11-week street festival)
June through August 2022
Summer Farm Tours
June through September 2022
Wine on the Water, Incline Village (NV)
June 5, 2022
Tahoe City Food & Wine Classic
June 11, 2022
Ironstone Art & Wine Festival, Murphys
June 11 & 12, 2022
July
Bass Lake Fest
July 28-30, 2023***
Truckee Thursdays (11-week street festival)
June through August 2022
Summer Farm Tours
June through September 2022
Mammoth Jazzfest Wine Walk
July 15 & 16, 2022
Motherlode Beer & Music Festival,
Historic Main Street, Placerville
July 16, 2022
Downieville Mountain Brew Fest
July 23, 2022
Taste of Gold, South Lake Tahoe
July 23, 2022
Amador County Fair
July 28-31, 2022
Mammoth Villagefest
July 29 & 30, 2022
August
Mammoth Margarita Festival
August 11 & 12, 2023***
All American Rib Cookoff, Auburn
August 12, 2023***
Truckee Thursdays (11-week street festival)
June through August 2022
Summer Farm Tours
June through September 2022
Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza, Mammoth Lakes
August 4-7, 2022
Nevada County Fair, Grass Valley
August 10-14, 2022
Apple Hill Growers Farm-to-Fork Dinner, Camino
August 13, 2022
Brews, Jazz & Funk Fest,
Palisades Tahoe
August 13, 2022
Mammoth Wine Weekend
August 18-21, 2022
Angels-Murphys Rotary Club
Shrimp & Pasta Feed, Murphys Park
August 20, 2022
Mammoth Rocks Taste of the Sierra
August 26 & 27, 2022
Placer Wine & Ale Trail Winemaker &
Brewer’s BBQ, Gold Hill Gardens in Newcastle
August 27, 2022
Tahoe Brewfest
August 27, 2022
September
Mammoth Rock N Rye Whiskey Festival
September 1-3, 2023***
Tri-County Fair, Bishop
September 2-5, 2023***
Summer Farm Tours
June through September 2022
Mariposa County Fair
September 2-5, 2022 – Tickets on sale June 1!
Alpen Wine Fest, Palisades Tahoe
September 4, 2022
Guitar Strings vs. Chicken Wings,
Palisades Tahoe
September 9, 2022
Miwok Acorn Festival,
Tuolumne Rancheria
September 10 & 11, 2022
Oktoberfest, Palisades Tahoe
September 17, 2022
Groveland 49er Festival Chili & Salsa Cook-Off
September 17, 2022
Aloha Festival, Auburn
September 17, 2022
Twain Harte a la Carte
Food, Wine & Beer Festival
September 17, 2022
Fiddletown Fiddlers’ Jam
September 17, 2022
Tahoe City Oktoberfest
September 24, 2022
Coulterville CoyoteFest
September 24 & 25, 2022
Mammoth Oktoberfest
CANCELLED for 2022
Barbera Festival, Plymouth
CANCELLED for 2022
October
Downtown Grass Valley Brewfest
October 14, 2023***
June Lake Autumn Beer Festival
October 1, 2022 – TICKETS ON SALE January 1, 2022
Truckee Wine Walk
October 1, 2022
Calaveras Grape Stomp, Murphys
October 1, 2022
Loomis Eggplant Festival
October 1, 2022
Amador Big Crush Harvest Festival
October 7-9, 2022
Oktoberfest on Main Street, Placerville
October 8, 2022
Columbia State Park Harvest Festifall
October 8 & 9, 2022
Oktoberfest at Around the
Horn Brewing Co., Groveland
October 15, 2022
Mariposa Sausage & Suds Sampler
October 29, 2022
November
Amador Arts Winefest, Sutter Creek
November 12, 2022
Mountain Mandarin Festival
Gold Country Fairgrounds, Auburn
November 18-20, 2022
December
Murphys Open House
December 2, 2022
Nevada City Victorian Christmas
Sundays – December 4, 11, & 18, 2022 (1:30-6pm)
Wednesdays – December 7 & 14, 2022 (5-9pm)
Yosemite Bracebridge Dinners
CANCELLED for 2022 due to Ahwahnee refurbishment project
Yosemite Grand Vintner’s Holidays
CANCELLED for 2022
Auburn Old Town Christmas
December 11 and December 18, 2021***
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).
