What's New in Sacramento

Tower Bridge Dinner

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 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 sold out in minutes and concluded the Farm-to-Fork celebration in 2014. Another gala event is planned for Sept. 27, 2015. www.Farmtofork.com

Sacramento to Host 2015 USGA Senior Open

Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento will host the tournament from June 22-28, 2015. http://www.2015ussenioropen.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 200 breweries. http://www.californiacraftbeer.com/2015-craft-beer-summit/

Pedal for Your Next Pint 

Sac Brew Bike

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

Professional Soccer Excels in Sacramento

The Sacramento Republic FC finished its first season at Bonney Field winning the USL PRO Championship in its inaugural season. Bonney Field has been expanded for the 2015 season due to the overwhelming ticket demand. www.sacrepublicfc.com

California Auto Museum Exhibit Pits Mustangs vs. Camaros

Want to join in the discussion about the Ford Mustang versus the Chevrolet Camaro? The California Auto Museum will be displaying Mustangs and Camaros from throughout their years, comparing and contrasting the cars in good times and bad! The exhibit runs June 20 through October 18, 2015. The museum's permanent collection includes more than 150 vehicles ranging from Model T to luxurious Packards and Lamborghinis. www.calautomuseum.org

Nonstop Service to Seattle and Mexico City

Delta Air Lines began offering four new daily nonstop flights from Sacramento to Seattle on May 4, 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. 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 is getting an extreme $6 million makeover. In May 2015, barricades were installed on the 2nd level to make room for three local restaurants. Simultaneously, the post-security interior is getting its biggest remodel since the terminal opened in 1998. The end result will be 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 will open in the summer 2015. The Iron Horse Tavern will open in the fall. 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

Signature California Museum exhibits:

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

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 

Old Sacramento Underground Tour

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 concerts, films, lectures and family and children's activities.www.crockerartmuseum.org

Exhibits:
David Ligare: California Classicist; June 7-September 20, 2015
Armin Hansen: The Artful Voyage; June 28–October 11, 2015
Rain Forest Visions, Amazonian Ceramics from Ecuador; Sept. 19, 2015-Feb.14, 2016

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:

Legends of Wine

The new Sacramento arena, officially known as the Entertainment and Sports Center (ESC) will open downtown 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. http://sacramentoesc.com/

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