What's New in Sacramento

2015 Sacramento Farm-to-Fork Celebration

Preparations are in high gear for the Farm-to-Fork Celebration scheduled for Sept. 10 - 27 after its resounding success in 2014. The celebration highlights the region's culinary scene with a Restaurant Week, the Legends of Wine, farm dinners, street fairs and other exciting events.  The free Farm-to-Fork Festival on Sept. 26 will feature food, wine and beer vendors, along with educational displays, kids' activities, cooking demonstrations and live music. In 2014, the event drew an estimated 30,000 people, eclipsing the 2013 inaugural event of 25,000 people. A Gala Dinner for hundreds of people on the iconic Tower Bridge scheduled for Sept. 27 sold out in 15 seconds and will conclude the Farm-to-Fork Celebration in 2015. www.Farmtofork.com

Sacramento Gold Rush Days Return Labor Day Weekend

Experience a step back in time as living history characters re-enact the Gold Rush era in Old Sacramento. The streets are closed to automobiles and then covered with dirt, while horse and carriages are the modes of transportation and period costumes prevail. River cruises, train rides, entertainment, food and drink make for a great family outing.  www.sacramentogoldrushdays.com

California Craft Beer Summit to Convene in Sacramento

The conference is scheduled for September 11-12 and will include seminars, demonstrations, hands-on learning opportunities along with numerous tasting events. The California Craft Brewers Showcase will conclude the summit featuring beers from 150 breweries. http://www.californiacraftbeer.com/2015-craft-beer-summit/

Sacramento International Airport (SMF) Reaches Agreement with Uber

The agreement with Uber became effective September 1, 2015 and allows the ride-sharing company to operate legally at the airport. UberBlack, the company's high-end service, has already been operating at the airport under a different agreement. www.sacramento.aero/smf

Pigskin Peanuts Coming to California Museum

The traveling exhibit from the Charles M. Schulz Museum chronicles the world's most popular comic strip through a display of 250 football-themed strips and ephemera in celebration of its 65th anniversary on October 2, 2015. The exhibit runs from September 12, 2015 through January 3, 2016   www.californiamuseum.org

Upcoming exhibit: Art of Dia de los Muertos: August 18 - November 29, 2015

Signature California Museum exhibits:

California Hall of Fame Artifacts; California Indians; California's Remarkable Women, Constitution Wall

Pedal for Your Next Pint

The Sacramento region is home to an exploding craft beer scene, with more than 30 breweries throughout the area. Thirsty visitors can pedal for their pints aboard this bicycle built for 15 while touring some of Sacramento's beer hot spots. www.sacbrewbike.com

California State Railroad Museum Debuts “California Railroad Landscapes”

This all new exhibit showcases 16 original oil-on-canvas paintings by California railroad artist Rod R. Aszman who specializes in painting scenes that highlight the Golden State's fascinating and picturesque railroading heritage. The majority of the paintings depict scenes within California, while a few showcase other railroads and landscapes in the West. The exhibit runs from September 12, 2015 through March 12, 2016. www.csrmf.org

Camping in Style: Little Homes on Wheels Exhibit at California Auto Museum

The exhibit will focus on the 1940s and 50s but will also include trailers from the early 1930s and 1960s. There will be familiar names and manufacturers such as Airstream, “canned hams” that all visitors can identify with and a number of limited edition and custom trailers such as the one made by famous designer Brooks Stevens. The exhibit will run from October 31, 2015 through April 10, 2016. www.calautomuseum.org

New Air Service to Seattle, Boise and Mexico City

Delta Air Lines began offering four new daily nonstop flights from Sacramento to Seattle in May  2015. The flights connect with Delta's long-haul international flights from Seattle, letting Sacramento customers enjoy one-stop connecting flights to Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Aeromexico started three weekly nonstop flights to Mexico City in early April 2015 and Southwest Airlines will begin new service to Boise in January 2016.  www.sacramento.aero/smf

Kudos for Sacramento International Airport (SMF)

The airy, four-level Central Terminal B, a $1 billion project, displays an energy efficient and environmentally conscious design that has received LEED certification. The project includes an $8 million public art program, most notably the 56-foot “Red Rabbit.” SMF ranks among the best U.S. airports for public art according to USA Today's Readers' Choice. SMF won a national design award for its concession program for medium-sized airports and Fodor's Travel ranks SMF in the top 10 high-tech airports in the United States. SMF was among the first in the U.S. to offer free Wi-Fi and was named fourth best airport in North America for customer service in 2012, 2013 and 2014 by Airports Council International (ACI), the international trade association for commercial airports. www.sacramento.aero/smf

Sacramento International Airport (SMF) Food Court Gets Makeover

The food court in Terminal A just received an extreme $6 million makeover. Simultaneously, the post-security interior is getting its biggest remodel since the terminal opened in 1998. The end result is  a modern, open dining and lounging area where passengers can relax and enjoy specialty restaurants found only in Sacramento. Local favorites Paesanos and the Squeeze Inn are operational and the Iron Horse Tavern will open in October.  www.sacramento.aero/smf

Downtown Sacramento Venues Offer Wine Tasting

The Sacramento region is home to more than 200 wineries and tasting rooms and is quickly gaining a reputation as a popular wine-tasting destination. No worries if time is too limited to explore the wineries out of town. Several downtown venues now offer tastes of regional wines. There's the Underground Tasting Room in Old Sacramento, Railbridge Cellars, Revolution Wines, 58 Degrees & Holding in Midtown, Downtown & Vine near the Convention Center. Ficklin-Wilcox offers tasting, cookware and cooking classroom.   www.sacramentowineguide.com

Old Sacramento Underground Tours

Hidden beneath the city for nearly 150 years, Old Sacramento's underground has long been the capital's best-kept secret.  Today, you can join thousands of residents and visitors in uncovering the facts behind the legends that lie below our buildings and sidewalks.  Explore excavated foundations and enclosed pathways while your tour guide recounts the tales of the devastation, perseverance, and determination that led to California's only successful street-raising project.  The tours will run through December 2015 and resume in April 2016. There are also some adult evening tours with more tales of the city's colorful residents. www.historicoldsac.org

Crocker Art Museum Update 

The Crocker Art Museum is the first art museum in the Western United States founded in 1885.  One of the leading art institutions in California, the collection includes Californian, European, Asian, African and Oceanic works, international ceramics and one of the finest early collections of master drawings in the United States.

The $100 million museum expansion tripled the size of the existing facility and added much-needed gallery space and visitor amenities. The new building also creates one of the largest event spaces in Sacramento with indoor/outdoor seating for 1,200. State-of-the-art education and program facilities include a 260-seat auditorium and meeting center, studio art spaces and a children's interactive gallery. The museum offers an enhanced gift shop and a café and features numerous concerts, films, lectures and family and children's activities.www.crockerartmuseum.org

Exhibits:

Rain Forest Visions, Amazonian Ceramics from Ecuador; Sept. 19, 2015-Feb.14, 2016

The Art of Albrecht Dὕrer: Nov. 1, 2015 – Feb. 14, 016  

Sacramento Hot Deals

The Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau has developed a number of hotel packages in conjunction with events at Sleep Train Arena or simply to explore California's capital city with great savings. http://www.visitsacramento.com/visit/hot-deals/

Coming in 2016:

The new Sacramento arena, the Golden 1 Center, will open in October 2016 in time for the 2016 -17 NBA season. The indoor facility with 17,500 seats and 34 suites will be the new home of the Sacramento Kings and will host numerous year-round events. The Golden 1 Center will be LEED GOLD-certified and one of the most technologically advanced arenas in the nation. http://golden1center.com

Kimpton Hotels will open a 250-room boutique property in downtown Sacramento, adjacent to the Golden 1 Center currently under construction. The property is scheduled to open late 2016 in a 16-story building including condominiums and retail space.