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On the Calendar

Hundreds of festivals and special events take place annually in California. Here are a few of the favorites. If you plan to visit during a big festival, book your accommodations and event tickets well in advance.

Winter

December

For the Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade,in Newport Beach, more than 200 festooned boats glide through the harbor nightly the week before Christmas (call for exact dates).

Over the first two weekends in December the Miners' Christmas Celebration in Columbia is an extravaganza of costumed carolers and children's piñatas. Related events include a Victorian Christmas feast at the City Hotel, lamplight tours, an equestrian parade, and Las Posados Nativity Procession.

January

Palm Springs' annual Palm Springs International Film Festival showcases the best of international cinema, with more than 100 screenings, lectures, and workshops.

In Pasadena the annual Tournament of Roses Parade takes place on New Year's Day, with lavish flower-decked floats, marching bands, and equestrian teams, followed by the Rose Bowl game.

February

The legendary AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament begins in late January and ends in early February.

San Francisco's Chinatown is the scene of parades and noisy fireworks, all part of a several-day Chinese New Year celebration. Los Angeles also has a Chinese New Year Parade.

From early February through March, the Napa Valley Mustard Festival highlights the art, culture, cooking, and—of course—the wines of Napa.

Indio's Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival is an exotic event with an Arabian Nights theme; camel and ostrich races, date exhibits, and tastings are among the draws.

Spring

March

The finest female golfers in the world compete for the richest purse on the LPGA circuit at the Kraft Nabisco Championship,in Rancho Mirage.

The North Tahoe Snow Festival celebrates the region's winter sports, with everything from slope-side parties to kids' events at venues all around North Tahoe.

The Mendocino/Fort Bragg Whale Festival includes whale-watching excursions, marine-art exhibits, wine and beer tastings, crafts displays, and a chowder contest.

April

The Cherry Blossom Festival,an elaborate presentation of Japanese culture and customs, winds up with a colorful parade through San Francisco's Japantown.

The Toyota Grand Prix,in Long Beach, the largest street race in North America, draws top competitors from all over the world.

May

Oxnard celebrates its big cash crop at the California Strawberry Festival,with exhibitors preparing the fruit in every imaginable form—shortcake, jam, tarts, and pizza.

California's largest outdoor tasting anchors the mid-May Paso Robles Wine Festival,a weekend of winery and winemaker events.

Inspired by Mark Twain's story "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," the Jumping Frog Jubilee,in Angels Camp, is for frogs and trainers who take their competition seriously.

Sacramento is host to the four-day Sacramento Jazz Jubilee; the late-May event is the world's largest Dixieland festival, with 125 bands from around the world.

Thousands sign up to run the San Francisco Bay to Breakers Race,a 7½-mi route from the Bay side to the ocean side that's a hallowed San Francisco tradition.

The Santa Ysabel Art Festival is a mountain art celebration with works by 50 San Diego-area painters, sculptors, and fiber artists, plus a poetry fair and jazz and classical music.

Summer

June

In early June, Ojai hosts the Ojai Music Festival,a noted outdoor classical-music celebration.

The Christopher Street West Gay & Lesbian Pride Festival celebrates the diversity of the gay and lesbian community in West Hollywood with a parade, music, dancing, food, and merchandise.

The last week in June, the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration culminates on Sunday, with a giant parade and festival, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The Napa Valley Wine Auction,in St. Helena, is accompanied by open houses and a wine tasting.

During the last weekend of June or the first weekend of July Pasadena City Hall Plaza is host to the Absolut Chalk Festival,the world's largest chalk-painting festival. Artists use the pavement as their canvas to create masterpieces that wash away once festivities have come to a close.

July

During the three weeks of the Carmel Bach Festival,the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and 18th-century contemporaries are performed; events include concerts, recitals, and seminars.

Most performances during Shakespeare Santa Cruz,a six-week festival in July and August take place outdoors in the striking Redwood Glen.

Late July through early August the California Mid-State Fair takes place in Paso Robles. Nearly a quarter-million people show up for carnival fun, agricultural exhibits, live music, and barbecue.

August

The California State Fair showcases the state's agricultural side, with a rodeo, horse racing, a carnival, and big-name entertainment. It runs 18 days from August to early September in Sacramento.

Santa Barbara's Old Spanish Days Fiesta is held the first Wednesday through Sunday in August, sometimes beginning in the last days of July. There are two Mexican marketplaces, a carnival, a rodeo, and the nation's largest all-equestrian parade.

Fall

September

On Catalina Island the Pottery & Tile Extravaganza showcases unique tile and pottery from private collections. There are displays, walking tours, demonstrations, and lectures.

The longest-running event of its kind, the Monterey Jazz Festival attracts big names for three days of music in mid-September.

The San Francisco Blues Festival is held at Fort Mason in late September.

The Los Angeles County Fair,in Pomona, is the largest county fair in the world. It includes entertainment, exhibits, livestock, horse racing, food, and more.

October

The Grand National Rodeo, Horse, and Stock Show,at San Francisco's Cow Palace, is a 10-day competition straddling the end of October and the beginning of November.

November

The Death Valley '49er Encampment,at Furnace Creek, commemorates the historic crossing of Death Valley in 1849, with a fiddlers' contest, trail rides, and an art show.

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Pasadena's Doo Dah Parade,a spoof of the annual Rose Parade, brings out partyers such as the Lounge Lizards, who dress as reptiles and lip-synch to Frank Sinatra favorites.