Fun in the Sun at these June Fairs and Festivals

Placer County Fair (Photo by Lisa Zeng, courtesy of the Placer County Fair)

Yuba-Sutter Fair

June 19-22 For a taste of the West this summer, you’ll just have to head north  to Yuba City. Expect wagon wheels and cowboy hats—not to mention a Western-themed costume contest for the kids—as the Yuba-Sutter Fair lives up to this year’s theme: “Where the West Is Fun.” How fun? We’re talking taco-eating contests to cheesecake chowdowns. Want to find out how many funnel cakes a human can ingest within five minutes? Now’s your chance. Meanwhile, new musical acts like the cover band Radio Ready will join annual crowd-pleasers like the Motown funk of San Francisco-based Nathan Owens Band. Wrapping up the festivities will be El Dia Hispano—a concert and rodeo event that packs ‘em in. We’ll be there with spurs on. ysfair.com

Sacramento Juneteenth Festival

June 20-21 Commemorating the abolition of slavery in America 160 years ago, the 22nd annual Sacramento Juneteenth Festival is embracing its theme of “Southern Soul” at William Land Park. Friday night’s Gospel Under the Stars concert will showcase seven different Northern California groups—including Sacramento’s own iSound youth choir—and then Louisiana singer T.K. Soul (who has nearly a quarter-million followers on his YouTube channel) will headline a full day of music on Saturday, with a New Orleans-style parade around the park. Sacramento’s premier Black theater company Celebration Arts will debut a new play, and local chefs like Nicole Williams (aka the “Vegan Lady Soul”) will be cooking up street eats for a party where all of Sacramento’s diverse communities can come together to celebrate. “There’s a preconceived notion that it’s a Black thing,” Sacramento Juneteenth Inc. executive director Gary Simon says of the festival. “Juneteenth is not Black history. It’s American history.” sacramentojuneteenthinc.org

Sacramento French Film Festival

June 20-22 The French helped shape modern independent cinema, and one could say it’s an art form we arguably need today more than ever. “We’re showing films that are more challenging,” Sacramento French Film Festival co-founder Cécile Downs says, “so people can see another perspective on issues that are universal.” Accordingly, the 24th annual iteration of this local cinema summit returns to the Tower Theatre with a slate of fresh French exports. Expect comedies like Les Barbares—the tale of Syrian refugees moving to a small French town, written and directed by actress and filmmaker Julie Delpy (two-time Oscar nominee for her screenplays of Before Sunset  and Before Midnight)—and heartbreakers like Boris Lojkine’s L’Histoire de Souleymane, about an undocumented African immigrant working as a delivery driver in Paris. The latter won four César Awards (aka the French Oscars) in February, including Best Male Revelation for Abou Sangare, the film’s lead, who was himself an undocumented immigrant during filming. “Sometimes reality is too complex,” French auteur Jean-Luc Godard once famously said. “Stories give it form.” sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org

Placer County Fair

June 26-29 When we tell you the Placer County Fair is cool, we aren’t just talking about Outlaw Mariachi, the headlining Los Angeles rock mariachi band. No, we’re also talking air conditioning. Its Roseville venue, @the Grounds, houses a swanky 160,000-square-foot arena that lets you take a hot-weather break from the new-and-improved midway rides and legendary pig races outside with indoor attractions like a kids’ STEM zone featuring activities like painting rocks to building blocks, a Family Fun Zone which will host a pie-eating contest, and an expanded Wine Experience where you can tipple local vintages from the Placer Wine Trail. Stick around for the savory rib cook-off, and ticket-up early—at $40 for a “passport” to a dozen or more ribs, it’s a smokin’ deal. placercountyfair.org

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