Get your taste buds ready!  With a focus on locally grown foods from the North Valley, the third annual California Nut Festival is scheduled for Saturday, April 21, 2012, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Each year, this popular culinary event showcases plentiful gourmet food offerings, wine and beer sampling, nut-inspired cooking demonstrations, live musical entertainment on two outdoor stages, an inspiring art show featuring talented local artists and much, much more.  Tickets go on sale March 1 for the 2012 California Nut Festival that takes place outdoors on the historic grounds of the Patrick Ranch Museum in Chico, California. Locally grown nuts such as almonds, walnuts, pecans and pistachios

Want to check out some of Sacramento’s wonderful museums but have not yet had the time or budget to do so? Mark your calendars for this Saturday and head out to the 14th Annual Sacramento Museum Day. A record 28 museums are participating this year, including newcomers the Center for Contemporary Art and the Sacramento Children’s Museum. 26 participating museums are offering free admission all day (10am-5pm; last admission at 4pm), and the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town are offering half-price admission in order to offset parking control and security costs. Sacramento has a wide variety of Museums featuring everything from art, science, and history to children’s exhibits, wildlife, and

In celebration of Black History Month, the California State Railroad Museum is proud to present two special guest presentations and book signing opportunities with Professor Theodore Kornweibel, Jr., author of Railroads in the African American Experience: A Photographic Journey.    After 30 years of research and work in the field of black history, Kornweibel will share his thoughts and findings during two special illustrated presentations on Saturday, February 18, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., each to be followed by book signing opportunities.  His photographic book is a captivating, illustrated tour of the black railroad experience from slavery to Amtrak. It includes nearly 200 compelling image

After a record-breaking attendance of more than 115,000 visitors last year, 28 Sacramento area museums will offer free or half-priced admission all day on Saturday, February 4, 2012, during the 14th Annual Sacramento Museum Day.  New this year, 26 of the 28 museums will offer free admission whereas two destinations located in residential areas -- the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town -- will offer half-priced admission to offset parking control and security costs.  This hugely popular community event is presented by the Sacramento Association of Museums (SAM) and proudly supported by Umpqua Bank. Sacramento Museum event hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with the last guests admitted at 4 p.m.).

No Valentine this year?  No worries! Sacramento area singles looking for a fun new way to meet interesting people won’t want to miss the one-night-only “Singles Night at the Sacramento History Museum” in Old Sacramento on Thursday evening, February 9.  The special festivities include tasty appetizers and wine sampling at the Sacramento History Museum starting at 5 p.m., an evening Old Sacramento Underground tour at 5:30 p.m. led by the crowd-favorite Miss Odessa, followed by a fun and friendly museum scavenger hunt.  Then, for those who have worked up an appetite, the popular Rio City Café is offering a 15 percent discount on dinner for everyone with a valid “Singles Night at the Sacrame

Fascinated by railroading history? Interested in working on a train? Enjoy working with visitors, children and school groups? The California State Railroad Museum and Old Sacramento State Historic Park (SHP) are now recruiting adults (18 or older) who are interested in volunteering in early 2012 to help communicate the West’s fascinating heritage of railroading and the California Gold Rush.  The volunteer orientation will begin on Saturday, February 25, but interested volunteers must apply and be interviewed in advance. Volunteer applications are being accepted now through Monday, February 6.  Community members are encouraged to get involved in this worthwhile program that offers an opport

Launching an exciting new season of interactive and fun “Hands on History” activities, Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park presents a special “Hands on History: Trappers, Trades, and Treaties” event on Saturday, January 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors to the Fort will step back in time to the 1840s to learn why trappers were considered “jacks of many trades” and experience how they lived, worked, explored new territory and traded with local Native Americans.  Docents will treat Fort visitors to musket demonstrations and share examples of many fascinating aspects in the life of a trapper.  Fort visitors will have the hands-on opportunity to examine fur pelts, create documents with a quil

After a record-breaking attendance of more than 115,000 visitors last year, 28 Sacramento area museums will offer free or half-priced admission all day on Saturday, February 4, 2012, during the 14th Annual Sacramento Museum Day.  New this year, 26 of the 28 museums will offer free admission whereas two destinations located in residential areas -- the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town -- will offer half-priced admission to offset parking control and security costs.  This hugely popular community event is presented by the Sacramento Association of Museums (SAM) and proudly supported by Umpqua Bank. Sacramento Museum event hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with the last guests admitted at 4 p.m.).

In addition to its fascinating Gold Rush past, the Sacramento area is rich with an amazing array of state-of-the-art museums and historic sites that offer visitors the chance to explore California’s fine art, history, science, and wildlife treasures all year long.  With 28 active partners, the Sacramento Association of Museums (SAM) is proud to showcase a variety of uplifting special events, activities and exhibits in January, including: “California Hall of Fame” Exhibit at The California Museum -- through October 31, 2012 Honoring individuals from the Golden State who have made their own mark on history and the world, the new exhibit features the personal artifacts of the 2011 Californi

Step back in time to holidays past with festive, hands-on activities such as stringing popcorn and cranberries, candle dipping and crafting paper cut-out ornaments when Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park presents “Hands on History: A Simple Emigrant Christmas” on Saturday, December 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.   Friends and families are encouraged to visit the Fort to enjoy docents in period attire as they interpret and demonstrate a variety of early holiday traditions and cultural activities similar to what early emigrants did in the 1840s.  For instance, docents will help demonstrate and share holiday traditions from  Germany, Scandinavia, Mexican California, England, and Russia.  In fact, S

Get ready to experience lavishly re-created period décor, an impressive array of live holiday music and captivating storytellers during two upcoming special “Christmas Memories” events at the Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park on Saturday, December 3 & 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Surrounded by docents in period costume, Mansion visitors will be transported back in time to the very place where thirteen of California’s early governors and their families lived, spent Christmas seasons and shared holiday traditions.  In fact, then-Governor Edmund G. Brown and his family were the last first-family to celebrate Christmas in the stately mansion.  And, to add to the festive activities, Mr. and M

In addition to its fascinating Gold Rush past, the Sacramento area is rich with an amazing array of state-of-the-art museums and historic sites that offer visitors the chance to explore California’s fine art, history, science, and wildlife treasures during the holidays and all year long.  With 28 active partners, the Sacramento Association of Museums (SAM) is proud to showcase a diverse sampling of holiday-related events and activities happening in December, including: Gingerbread Holiday at the Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum - December 2-21 For 20 years and counting, the Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum is gearing up for their  festive and fun gingerbread house decorating contest! Ki

Get ready for some holiday fun on your next visit to the California State Capitol Museum!   To set a festive stage and spread holiday cheer, visitors to the State Capitol will enjoy free holiday music daily from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. December 1 through 23, 2011.  Beautiful vintage decorations create a lovely backdrop for a variety of diverse and amazing live holiday musical performances in the Capitol Rotunda each day.  Visitors will enjoy live musical entertainment that includes a Salvation Army brass quintet, a Cal-Trans choir (made up of a spirited group of state workers), trombone jazz, world and baroque music, bell-ringers, a harp circle, a youth violinist, a number of talented school cho

Widely known as North America’s most popular railroad museum, the California State Railroad Museum has exciting plans to dazzle, delight and engage post-Thanksgiving visitors with a special “Small Train Holiday” focus on November 25 and 26.  Expanded holiday offerings inside the Museum include fun interpretive handcar rides, crowd pleasing scale models and toy train displays, story time with Mrs. Claus, period-appropriate holiday decor and much more. In addition to these new activities, the “Small Train Holiday” focus includes other fun favorites such as amazing scale models and toy train layouts on display throughout the Museum, a Polar Express model train running on the “Small Wonders”

In celebration of the Veteran’s Day holiday, the Sacramento History Museum is offering FREE Museum admission for military personnel and their families on Friday, November 11.  In addition, and with an expanded holiday schedule, discounted Old Sacramento Underground tours are available on Friday, November 11, for military personnel as well as for their entire families.  To receive free Museum admission and/or discounted underground tours, military personnel must present a valid military ID. With visually exciting and educational exhibits and artifacts on display plus interactive offerings and special hands-on activities on weekends, the Sacramento History Museum offers visitors a chance to

Darkness lends a bit of mystery to the Fort and an evening’s romantic aura can often disguise the harsh reality of both early pioneer life and today’s urban concerns.  See the Sutter’s Fort in a new light—candlelight!  Providing an alluring new perspective for visitors, Sutter’s Fort offers just a once a year, evening tours by candle light on Saturday, November 19 from 6:30 - 9 p.m.  Guides will lead small groups of visitors into the Fort’s more intimate rooms for intriguing glimpses into the private lives of those who uprooted their families for a better life in early California.  Overhear conversations such as families discussing opportunity or possible devastation in their new homes, hu

The State Indian Museum is proud to host Anthony Platt, Author and Professor Emeritus at California State University, Sacramento, for a special lecture and book signing event on Saturday, November 19, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  In his engaging and informative style, Platt will thoughtfully explain the history and long-term consequences of more than 200 years of collecting and looting the sacred grave sites of California Indians.  In addition, Platt will be on-hand to sign copies of his recently released book titled Grave Matters: Excavating California’s Buried Past, that will also be available for purchase on-site that day.  There is no cost for this special lecture and book signing although

To the delight of rail enthusiasts of all ages, the California State Railroad Museum will debut a new exhibit titled “Common Diversions: Toy Trains and Scale Model Railroads” on November 3, 2011.  While the items on special display will all be miniature in size, the goal of the exhibit is to clearly distinguish the big differences between scale models and toy trains, both of which have unique characteristics and avid collectors.  In addition to the Railroad Museum’s popular “Small Wonders: The Magic of Toy Trains” exhibit and in contrast to the impressive collection of 21 full-size meticulously restored locomotives and cars on display throughout the Museum, visitors will soon have a uniqu

Check it out! In addition to its fascinating Gold Rush past, the Sacramento area is rich with an amazing array of state-of-the-art museums and historic sites that offer visitors the chance to explore California’s fine art, history, science, and wildlife treasures all year long.  With 28 active partners, the Sacramento Association of Museums (SAM) is proud to showcase a diverse sampling of upcoming events and activities happening in November, including: Sweet Exchange at the (new) Sacramento Children’s Museum - November 1-5 The first-ever Sweet Exchange activity gives kids plenty of incentives to surrender their sugar-saturated Halloween candy in exchange for a fun-filled goodie bag that a

In conjunction with a compelling new exhibit titled We Won the Vote! 100 Years of Equal Suffrage in California on display inside the State Capitol Museum (Room 105), docents in period attire will present engaging Living History performances on Saturday, October 15, throughout the State Capitol specially designed to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of when women gained full voting rights in California.   Interested guests should meet in the First Floor Rotunda to view the series of performances (guided by docents) that leave every 15 minutes between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.   Visitors of all ages will encounter politicians and key women suffragists from an earlier time as docents re-enact