The evenings are the best part of summer here. The Delta Breeze comes through and drops the temperature, and the whole region comes back outside. Some of the best things to do around Sacramento happen after the sun is down.
This is a recurring rhythm, not one big weekend. The night markets, the paddle sessions, the outdoor movies, and the after-hours art walks come back every warm season. Here is what to expect from each of them.
NIGHT MARKETS AND OPEN AIR SHOPPING
Several night markets run around the region every warm season, and they mix food, drinks, vintage finds, and handmade goods. Our Street Night Market brings together food, vendors, artists, and music. In West Sacramento, the Starry Night Market at Drake’s: The Barn pairs live music with local vendors. In Roseville, the Hello Fall Nite Market adds food, drinks, and fall activities for kids. If you have only been to a daytime farmers market here, this is the same idea after dark.
PADDLE WHEN THE WATER GOES FLAT
Lake Natoma stays open until 9 p.m. through the middle of October, and there are organized sunset paddles through the fall. The water is calm and the temperature has dropped, which is the entire point.
Another option is Valensin Vineyards in Galt, which runs glow-in-the-dark paddleboarding on its manmade lake. The boards are lit, the lake is small, and the whole thing is a little ridiculous in a good way.
MOVIES, MUSIC, AND GLOW GOLF
- Cinema at Sundown, Westacre Park in West Sacramento. An outdoor movie night, and many of these are free.
- Movies in the Vines, Bogle Vineyards in Clarksburg. Film, vines, and an evening that cools off as it goes.
- Barnflix, Drake’s: The Barn. The same venue that hosts the night market and the concert series runs movie nights too.
- West Wind Sacramento Drive-Ins. If you want a first-run film from your own car, this is still the place.
- Night golf. Foothill Golf Course in Citrus Heights and Bradshaw Ranch both run glow-in-the-dark golf, and Haggin Oaks has a fully illuminated driving range open until midnight through October.
THE CONCERT SERIES THAT RUN EVERY SUMMER
Outdoor concert series are the backbone of the season. Concerts on the Square in Roseville runs through the summer in the downtown core. Rancho Cordova keeps a Friday night series going. In El Dorado Hills, Live on the Boulevard closes out its season in August. Out in Camino, Delfino Farms hosts Folk on the Farm into September. The acts change every year. The series do not.
HISTORY, ART, AND STARLIGHT
Gold Rush history reads differently after dark. In Old Sacramento you can tour the underground after hours and get the less polished version of the city’s past. The Old City Cemetery runs themed tours about the city’s most notable residents, plus lantern tours in October. Auburn has a ghost tour, and Placerville has its own, walking past some of the buildings people claim are haunted.
The Crocker Art Museum’s ArtMix is a monthly themed after-hours event with art, music, live performance, and a vendor market. Second Saturday in Midtown is the monthly art walk, and 2nd Friday ArtAbout does the same thing in Davis. There is also the Fremont Park Bloom, a public art installation of illuminated golden poppies that glows in the park.
When the sky is clear, the community observatory in Placerville opens for viewing through 17-inch and 14-inch reflecting telescopes. You can follow planets or the moon, and catch meteor showers. Wakamatsu Farm runs Wine, Wonders and the Cosmos, an evening with telescopes set up for Saturn, Neptune, the Ring Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Perseus Double Cluster.
THE COMPARISON I REACH FOR, AND WHERE IT STOPS WORKING
I think of the after-dark calendar here as the region running a second shift. It fits, because the first shift is the hot one. The workday, the errands, the heat. The second shift is when people actually see each other. Patios fill, parks fill, and the events start.
Where it stops working is the word shift. A shift is work, and this is the opposite. This is the part of the day people choose. The comparison also flattens something real, which is that the two halves are not equal in length. The first shift is long and the second one is short, so the after-dark season is a narrow window, and the cold closes it.
WHAT I WOULD TELL YOU TO WEIGH
- It is seasonal. Lake Natoma’s late hours end in mid-October, so the after-dark version of this region is a warm-weather thing.
- The evenings are not automatically cool. Early in the season it is still warm after dark, and the breeze is what saves it.
- You are driving to most of this. West Sacramento, Placerville, Camino, and Galt are not one trip.
- Some of it is 21 and over. Check before you plan the group.
- The late nights add up. If you have an early start, most of this is a weekend list, not a weeknight list.
If you want to know which parts of the region actually have the evening life you are picturing, that is a conversation, and you can reach me here. If you would rather know how I work first, there is a short page for that.
Question for you: does your ideal week have a patio and a late dinner in it, or a quiet house by nine? Both are good answers, and they point at different parts of town.
Adapted from Things to Do After Dark in the Sacramento Region, originally published by Windermere Signature Properties at windermerecalocal.com.
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