Santa Rosa Wednesday Night Market

On summer Wednesdays, downtown Santa Rosa closes Fourth Street and Old Courthouse Square for the county's big night market. For fourteen weeks from mid-May, farmers, chefs, artisans and makers set up along the streets, with local street food, craft beer and wine, and a concert stage running from 5pm until 9:30.

Admission is free. It is built for strolling: start at one end of the square and eat your way to the other.

Go for the crowd as much as the food. This is where Santa Rosa meets itself on a summer night: families, old friends, first dates and visitors all walking the same few blocks, plates in hand, while the band plays and the square glows.

Come hungry and graze slowly. Pick a dinner from one stall and dessert from another, find a local glass to go with it, and stay until the music winds down and the streets begin to empty.