Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Golden Sky Festival and Visit Sacramento. This page does contain affiliate links. Although we receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine. The Golden Sky Festival is an event you want to be at next year! #GoldenSky #GoldenSkyPartner #DWPresents #VisitSacramento
This year was the inaugural year of the Golden Sky Festival! A Country Music Festival that is going to be a NEW Sacramento annual tradition you want to be at! The Golden Sky Festival took place on Saturday, October 15th, and Sunday, October 16th at Discovery Park (1600 Garden Highway, Sacramento, CA). This two-day Country Music Festival had an amazing lineup of Country Music Artists like Tim McGraw, Brothers Osborne, Carly Pierce, Diamond Rio, Matt Stell, Lindsay Ell, Chase Matthew, Mabilene, Sam Hunt, Midland, Michael Ray, Parmalee, LANCO, Elvie Shane, Ernest and so many more!
There were two main stages, The Visit Sacramento Stage and The Jack Daniels Stage. There was a small break between each artist, so you were able to see everyone and have time to grab food, and take part in the other festivities. If you wanted to move between both stages that was easy enough to do, but you could also stay near one stage, and still not miss a thing, because they had big screens to see the artist performing even from the other stage.
The Golden Sky team really did a great job of planning this event, and thinking of activities for you to enjoy throughout the day. They had line dancing and partner two-stepping lessons at the River City Saloon and Dance Hall as well as Billy the Bull to have some fun on.
They had food areas such as the Farm House area as well as food trucks, food vendor booths, and plenty of other vendor booths for you to shop at with a lot of great local goods. While there were a ton of people there, we did not feel like we had to wait in long lines. We ordered a grilled dog and a wood fire-grilled pizza, which our pizza cooked really fast.
I wanted to share some tips with you so you can make the most of your Golden Sky Festival experience next year while everything is still fresh in my mind from attending this year. I also love to share where we stayed and what we ate. If you are traveling to Sacramento for this event I hope this comes in handy for you and if you are a local, I hope this gets you excited for next year, please share this information with your friends and family. One thing for sure, purchase your tickets/passes early. The VIP weekend passes sold out quickly this year, I can only imagine this event is going to grow and become more popular next year.
Let's get to the tips first.
Bring water with you! This is a MUST, they had plenty of water bar stations to refill and stay hydrated. Although we had the perfect weather this year, it can be hot in Sacramento well into October. One sealed water bottle per person is allowed in or an empty plastic refillable water bottle (no hydro flasks or Yetis).
Bring a picnic blanket to sit on! There were some picnic table areas, near the food areas, but a blanket is a must especially if you plan on hanging out all day. The gates opened at 11:30 AM and the event went past 10 PM. There are no re-entry privileges, once you have entered the venue each day, you cannot leave and come back in. A blanket is also a great way to save your spot, while you go grab some food or use the restroom.
What time to arrive? Totally up to you, while we arrived early and enjoyed staying the entire time, we planned ahead for that. It really is a great place to hang out, play corn hole, eat great food and enjoy the activities and peruse all of the great vendors. This is the perfect event to meet up with friends stay all day listening to music and enjoy the weekend.
Wear comfy shoes! If you plan on staying all day, open to close, you will want to wear comfy shoes. There is dirt and grass, and lots of walking, so I personally wouldn't wear heels or white boots. I love these Walmart shoes I found online here.
Wear layers. While it was a gorgeous sunny day, in the '80s, it was chilly in the evenings. I was so glad I brought my denim jacket to put on in the evening.
Know the bag policy. A clear bag these days is the easiest way to get through security at any event. While they do allow small bags and fanny packs, clear bags are the easiest to get through security. Be sure to shop early for a clear bag, often times, if you wait too close to the date of large events local stores are sold out. Here is one that is the size we brought in.
I have to share this photo of my cute purse, which was perfect for the weekend around town and made me feel like I was getting in the country mood, but I did not take it into the festival. We just took our clear bag. I never like to even try to bring in a purse, because I have seen too many people at Golden 1 Center events who have had to walk their purses/bags back to the car. But if you are looking for a country-style purse this is one of my favorite purses.
Lockers are available and a great option to keep your valuables safe so you don't have to carry stuff around all day. You can reserve your locker ahead of time, they sent out e-mails near the event date with locker information.
Wear sunscreen, and bring a travel-sized to reapply. There were shaded areas, to get out of the sun but sunscreen is essential.
Are kids allowed? Yes, we saw families with kids of all ages. You can't bring a stroller so a baby-carrying sling of some kind is a must and if you have older kids and teens, you might want to bring a deck of cards or something to help keep them entertained.
Parking. Parking was the only thing that I wish they could improve on, but honestly don't see how they can, it is what it is for Discovery Park events. Parking is $40 per day at the lots nearby and you still have to walk quite a bit. If you live in the area and can have a friend drop you off and pick you up, that would be amazing. Taking Uber, Lyft or some kind of ride-sharing is another option, depending on where you are coming from. Golden Sky also partnered with SacRT, Festival fans can ride SacRT buses and the light rail trains for FREE on event days with a valid Golden Sky Festival pass for the day of service.
Download the Golden Sky App before you go!!! This was such a help to have the schedule of who was performing on what stage and at what time. The App has a Map, a list of Experiences, FAQs, and more!
This event was a fun weekend date night for us. We stayed at the Hyatt Centric Hotel right in the heart of Downtown Sacramento, within walking distance to the Golden 1 Center. The hotel was beautiful, they had a gorgeous lobby with a restaurant as well as a rooftop bar. The Hotel restaurant is The 7th Street Standard, voted Sacramento's Best New Restaurant! Visit Sacramento so kindly had a gift basket in our room. My husband loved the hat, which he needed for the Festival and the portable charger came in handy. The room was spacious, chic, and comfy. Our room had a mini fridge and Keurig for coffee.
The Hyatt Centric is conveniently located at 1122 7th Street, within walking distance of so many great restaurants and coffee shops. If you haven't hung out at DOCO it is a great place to walk around, shop, and enjoy the area, there is even easy access to stroll into Old Sacramento. There is a Macy's and a bunch of small shops. We had so much fun hanging out at DOCO.
On one of the mornings, we enjoyed coffee at Estelle Bakery & Pâtisserie. All of the pastries looked so mouth-watering, they had scones, muffins, macaroons, and so much more! I ordered the Pumpkin Muffin and an iced coffee. They have a location on Arden Way and a Downtown location.
One of the restaurants we ate at was House Kitchen & Bar, wow, amazing service and delicious food. We ordered the Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes for an appetizer and oh my goodness they were so good. The three large tamale cakes were topped with a delicious tomatillo corn salsa. These had the perfect amount of sweetness, and let the tamale flavor shine through.
I ordered the Carolina-style Pulled Pork Sandwich and my husband ordered the Shrimp Po'Boy. Both were so good. The Pulled Pork Sandwich was served on a King's Hawaiian roll and topped with pineapple coleslaw. The Po'Boy Sandwich had a cabbage slaw and spicy mayo. Both came with fries. I'm not sure what the freshly fried golden fries were seasoned with, but it was so good. We were offered more fries halfway through our meal which surprised me. If you have not been to House Kitchen & Bar, I highly recommend it. They are located at 555 Capitol Mall. They are the perfect spot to eat dinner before a Kings Game or Golden 1 Center event.
One thing is for sure we ate really well! Sacramento seriously has so many great places to eat! If you are visiting or a local I highly recommend exploring this beautiful city and all it has to offer. Below are some photos of just a few of the artists, it goes without saying each artist was AMAZING. Everyone was great at interacting with the crowd, sharing small snippets of their life, and of course doing what they do best, performing! There is something special about a LIVE performance, they feed off the crowd and the crowd sings along, the entire Golden Sky weekend was so much fun, nothing like it. Be sure to sign up to be in the know for when they announce next year's dates and line-up, you can sign up here.
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- def not cute, but very real
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