Skip the crowded malls this Saturday and bring your wish lists and your camera down to the MARRS Building to visit Santa’s Workshop! Santa and his elves have opened up their workshop for the past two Saturdays and this Saturday they are inviting the whole family, even the pets! Residents and visitors are invited to visit Santa’s Workshop at the MARRS Building from 11am-4pm. Pets are welcome to come down from 2pm-4pm. Grateful Dog Daycare will even be on hand to give the photogenic pooches a special treat. The MARRS Building is located in the heart of Midtown at 20th & J Streets. MARRS retailers invite all, big and small, to join them at this festive event. Retailers at MARRS include Pete

Sacramento art galleries hosted small crowds of visitors during the last Second Saturday of the year. Many visitors took advantage of the smaller crowds to do Christmas shopping. Galleries and other businesses sold art, crafts, gift certificates and other items to Christmas shoppers. Festivities in Sacramento began earlier in the day with the annual Santa Parade. Thousands of children, along with their parents, lined the parade route. The parade started at the corner of 9th and I Streets and an anticipated crowd of over 25 thousand watched. The annual parade began at 10 a.m. and participants included marching bands, cheer squads, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, several floats, car clubs,

  The Capital Cities Artober celebration is in full effect and Midtown is excited to give the Sacramento region another opportunity to explore and commemorate the arts in a big way. This Saturday, October 15th, the Midtown Modern Arts Festival (MMAF) will take place on 20th Street between J & K. The FREE family-friendly street-fair will occur from Noon – 6:00pm and is guaranteed to offer attendees a broad spectrum of creativity including Music, Dance, Comedy, the Visual Arts and every medium in-between. The festival will feature a performance program on two separate stages: the KlickNation Stage and the MARRS Building Stage. Performing artists include the Sacramento Ballet, The Sacrament

Santa landed on MARRS today and wished everyone a Merry Christmas during 12 Days of Midtown "Holiday on MARRS". I was there to document this historic event: Santa and his helper trekked on MARRS bringing good cheer to one and all. First stop was to get Santa in the zone with some yoga (above and below). Photo with Santa was part of his adventure. In and out of doors we went. Shaking hands and bumping fists is all part of his work. Off to his sleigh he went when his work here was done. For more info about midtown CLICK HERE SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

If you missed the last screening of The Next American Dream, you'll have another chance to see the film this weekend.  This documentary and dialogue-driver about revitalizing America's urban cores will be showing for free in front of the MARRS building on Saturday evening. When:  Saturday Oct. 2, 6:30-8.  Screening will begin at 7pm Where:  In front of MARRS, 1050 20th Street Cost:  Free Sacramento stands poised for a 21st century transformation.  Come and join the discussion about shaping our city's future!

Rob Kerth has been getting plenty of Zamboni action the last few nights. Midtown Business Association's executive director has been staying up late and going out in the early-morning dark to use the ice groomer to help create an ice-skating rink that opens at 10 a.m. Friday in Midtown. "It's a tremendous amount of work to put up one of these portable rinks," Kerth said Wednesday. "I've been there until 4 in the morning at least five out of the last 10 days." While most business association leaders might not even know how to spell "Zamboni," Kerth not only knows how to drive one, he owns one. And he has the license to drive it. That's because until last year, Kerth owned Ice Unlimited,

The Anti-Cooperation League christened the Sacramento Comedy Spot's new location with a long-from improvisational performance on Friday night. A compelling blend between dry wit, slapstick and quick thinking enthralled the crowd of over 100. During the performance, the comedians welcomed audience volunteers to the stage to share details about their lives. Adeptly transitioning between scenes portraying gambling-obsessed women, lustful elderly men and hypochondriac middle school children, the performers created a series of hilarious scenes inspired by the volunteers' lives. One audience volunteer mentioned that he works at the UC Davis Medical Center and has an affinity for stealing pen

The city of Sacramento has announced its plans to demolish the Bel-Vue Apartments, a registered city landmark, in order to clear land on 8th Street for a potential future parking structure. Located adjacent to the now-vacant corner of 8th and K Street, the Bel-Vue was built in 1910 as the American Cash Apartments. Built in the Craftsman style with Asian overtones, the three-story brick building contains apartments above a commercial ground floor. When the Bel-Vue was built, it was one of many downtown apartment buildings. If it was built today, the Bel-Vue would be described as a mixed-use, transit-oriented infill project. The building is currently owned by the city of Sacramento’s housi