Out and About in Fall 2025
Cyndi Lauper heads to Wheatland as she wraps up her farewell tour, the Sacramento Ballet and Capital Stage launch their new seasons, A Flock of Seagulls (plus nine more ’80s sensations) take flight at Thunder Valley, a pop-jukebox sequel to Romeo and Juliet delivers verses from bards like the Backstreet Boys and Kelly Clarkson at Broadway Sacramento, and more. Here are 15 reasons to fall for the arts around town.
Cyndi Lauper (Photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, courtesy of Live Nation)
Cyndi Lauper
Aug. 23 That’s all we really want—some fun, when the working day is done. Which is why we’ll be heading out to Wheatland this August to catch Cyndi Lauper in the final days of her worldwide farewell tour. The Grammy-Tony-Emmy-winning artist—who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this November—is hitting the Toyota Amphitheatre stage with Gen X classics like “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” “She Bop,” “Time After Time” and “True Colors.” toyotaamp.com
Sacramento Banana Festival
Aug. 16-17 Celebrating its 14th year, this annual William Land Park bonanza is as a-peeling as ever. Look for a multicultural parade, a classic car show, a showcase of up to 50 local artists, four fashion shows, and roughly two dozen different purveyors offering everything from locally grown bananas and banana cheesecake to banana fish fry and tacos with banana guacamole. bananafestivalsac.org
Chalk It Up
Aug. 30–Sept. 1 Some 200 artists, with 1,000 pounds of chalk? Let the pastel masterpieces ensue. This Labor Day weekend tradition returns to midtown’s Fremont Park for its 35th year sporting square after square of sidewalk art, over a dozen musical acts, complimentary chalk for kids, and a chance to revisit the fest’s best pieces from the past three and a half decades. chalkitup.org
Lost ’80s Live: Rewind Fest
Aug. 31 “A Flock of Seagulls were the perfect band for 1982,” Rolling Stone once wrote. Given the group’s bold fashion choices, bolder hairstyles and infectious New Wave bops like “I Ran” during the Decade of Decadence, we can’t argue. At Thunder Valley, the Flock headlines a 10-act ticket of ’80s sensations, including General Public (“Tenderness”), The Vapors (“Turning Japanese”) and Big Country (“In a Big Country”). thundervalleyresort.com
Gold Country Fair
Sept. 4–7 Themed “We’ve Got a Good Thing Growing,” Auburn’s summer send-off returns to the Gold Country Fairgrounds with everything from master gardener showcases to home brews and hand-raised livestock. Exhibits will also celebrate the 175th anniversary of California’s statehood, while NFL champions and former 49ers Tom Rathman and John Taylor help debut the Auburn Trading Card Show. goldcountryfair.com
