Old Sacramento Spring Festival

Head down to Old Sacramento for a family-friendly celebration of the season that’s almost as old as Sacramento itself, with the Old Sacramento Spring Festival.

A partnership of the Sacramento History Museum, Sacramento Living History, and the Sacramento Country Dance Society, the second-annual Spring Festival invites you to join in hourly dances around a 15-foot maypole – complete with a crown and ribbons – as well as traditional country dances to live music by the six-member Quite Carried Away band.

Spring celebrations cross many cultures over the centuries. In Sacramento, a “City of Festivals,” Spring celebrations date back to 1885, when the “Grand Festival of Flowers” honored philanthropist and art museum founder Margaret Crocker. April’s Spring Festival draws from that tradition, as well as Camellia Festivals that celebrated Sacramento’s now 160-year association with its official flower.

When your feet need a rest from dancing, you can enjoy demonstrations by the Sacramento County Dance Society, arts-and-crafts stations, hobby-horse races, gold panning, lawn games such as cornhole and giant Jenga, and more.

Note: This event takes place on the sycamore-shaded lawn next to the Sacramento History Museum and California State Railroad Museum.