Northern California Tomato Festivals in 2024: Where, When and More to Find a Tomato Festival Near You!

Looking for a Tomato festival in December 2024? There is no other listing as complete and current as this list, just updated! Tomato festivals are held through the United States, Canada, Britain, and Australia and much of the world. All the Tomato festivals we can find are listed on this page! If you love tomatoes, look for a festival near you below! And I'm looking for more Tomato festivals! Please write me, if you know of any to add!  I update the dates as soon as the festivals publish their information, but you can always click on the links (usually the name of the festival) to see the current information on the festival's own website. 

Especially this year, due to Coronavirus, be sure to click on the links (the blue, underlined name of the each festival) to confirm this year's dates on the website for each festival. If they don't have a website, call the phone number provided, but ALWAYS CONFIRM THIS YEAR'S DATES AND TIMES BY EITHER VIEWING THEIR WEBSITE OR CALLING.

Click here for the form to add a festival and have detailed information; or click here if you have general information and are not connected with the event!

Northern California 2024Tomato Festivals Festivals - Where, When and More Details!

Northern California

Tomatoes are a warm and hot weather crop, and typically are locally harvested from, July to October. There are two general types of Tomato festivals 1) community festivals, usually organized by a church, school, local Chamber of commerce or a town and 2). Tomato festival held at and by a farm

They are different in what they offer, so they are grouped separately. (of course not all states and areas have both. And following the festival listings are links to our easy to follow directions about making Tomato jam, freezing Tomatoes, Tomato pies and much more. 

Community Tomato Festivals

Napa County

• Napa Valley Tomato Festival - Saturday, in early September
  Connolly Ranch, 3141 Browns Valley Road, Napa, CA. This will be a community event to benefit Connolly Ranch Education Center and Napa County Farm Bureau.

Sacramento County

• Sacratomato Festival - See their website for this year's date,  4-8 p.m.
  Sutter's Fort State Historic Park, 2701 L Street, Sacramento, CA. There will be tomato-prepared foods, artisans, and crafters to celebrate and enjoy tomatoes. The festival includes a farmers market, a bloody mary bar, cooking demos, a children's "tomato patch" area, and more tomato fun. Free.

Solano County

• Fairfield Tomato Festival & West Coast Barbeque Championship - mid August  (see their website for this year's dates), Saturday 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday 11 am to 4 pm
  Fairfield, California 94533. Phone: 707-422-0103.  Email: mail@fairfielddowntown.com.  FREE kids activities galore, Gourmet tomato products to sample and buy, Nearly 200 craft and commercial Vendors, Farmers Market with fresh produce and fruit, More than 50 heirloom tomatoes to taste and buy, Tomato eating contest - CASH PRIZES, Tomato tasting, gourmet products. The West Coast Barbeque joins the Festival again. The California BBQ Association will bring 30 cooking teams together for the BBQ cook-off at Jefferson and Texas Streets. Sampling booths available. Click here for more info and entry forms for the BBQ Championship.Over 30,000 visitors attend "Tomato Alley", with over 100 varieties of Heirloom Tomatoes grown in the Suisun Valley. The festival features tomato eating contests, live entertainment, food court, artisans and crafters, cooking demonstrations, a variety of tomato-related vendors, children's activities, and a beer and wine garden featuring award-winning Suisun Valley wines. Wine & Food Pairing, family movie night, car show and concert to the festivities.
  Comments from a visitor on April 06, 2010: "Local vineyards, local produce stands, Jelly Belly tours nearby, Budweiser Plant tours are nearby , Western Railroad Museum nearby , Mare Island, Marine World, Benicia State Capitol Park . Fairfield, California is on I-80 about 30 minutes from Sacramento or San Francisco ... located midway between the two. This is an up - and - coming area for wines and Ag , Solano County is adjacent to Napa County ( wine and ag.) and has always been known as a fertile valley area since the Mexican land grants and the Gold Rush era."

Sonoma County

• Kendall-Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival - Saturday, in early September, 11 am to 4 pm - see their website for this year's dates. (Saturday typically in late September, 11 am to 4 pm)
  5007 Fulton Road, Fulton, CA. Phone: (866) 287-9818. Alternate phone: (800) 544-4413, ext. 770. The festival, which raises money for the School Garden Network of Sonoma County, is held on the lawn and in the walnut grove behind the Chateau at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center. Attendees experience the food of gourmet food purveyors, a Food & Wine magazine Best New Chef's Challenge, wine education seminars, a tomato growing contest, garden tours and live entertainment. All paired with Kendall-Jackson wines.
• San Francisco Bloody Mary Festival - September, 1-4 p.m.
  The Midway, 900 Marin Street, San Francisco, CA 94124. For an entrance fee, you get unlimited tastes of San Francisco's Bloody Marys, local artisinal food samples, music, and more.
• Windsor Tomato & Pepper Fest - September, exact date to be announced, 
  Windsor, CA. Celebrate everyone's favorite fruit and vegetable at this annual event - Free Tasting of over 50 locally grown varieties of Tomatoes, Local restaurants bring out their best at the Salsa Tasting with fresh Chips from Casa Sanchez, Hot Sauce Tasting, Chef Demonstration with The Green Grocer who shows us, "4 ways to preserve Tomatoes" and The all new Tomato Toss & Smash - finally something we can do with all those soft tomatoes! Try your luck at soaking a local caged celebrity with tomatoes - proceeds benefit the WHS Culinary Program.

Yolo County

• The Woodland Tomato Festival - Saturday, August from 9 am to 2 pm
  Freeman Park, Main Street, Woodland, CA. Yolo County is both a major producer and processor of tomatoes. This festival, goinmg for over 9 years, is known for its unique programming not found anywhere else. From Face Painting, to Heirloom Tomato Tasting ...from tomato Salsa Competition with free samples open to the public, to our beloved Tommy Tomato mascot- this is the premiere Tomato Festival of Yolo County. We hope you will join us year after year as we celebrate tomatoes together and don't forget- Happiness is a Yolo County Tomato!

 

Farm Tomato Festivals

In addition to community and church festivals, some private farms have their own tomato festivals in June.  See each farm for this year's dates (they often do not announce them until the end of May). They usually have PYO Tomatoes then, too.  Also, scroll down to see the links to recipes, freezing, canning and jam making directions at the bottom of the page.

• We will be adding these as we find them;  Please write me, if you know of any to add!

 

Related Tomato Information: Freezing, making Jam, Canning Pies, Recipes and More

Also, see our pages on easy illustrated Tomato directions:

Canning tomatoes (in water bath canners )

• How to can tomatoes using a water bath canner - W
• Diced, chopped or crushed tomatoes - W
• Tomato sauce - W
• Tomato paste - W
• Barbecue sauce (BBQ sauce) - W
• Chili sauce from your own tomatoes and peppers - W
• Diced, chopped or crushed tomatoes - W
• Tomato Preserves- W
• Tomato salsa - W
• Spaghetti sauce - without meat - W, P
• Spiced Green tomatoes- W
• Pickled Green Tomatoes - W - another pickled green tomato recipe, this one sweet
• Ketchup.. or if you prefer... How to make catsup - W, P
• NEW! SUPER-EASY homemade ketchup recipe
• Salsa from your unripe, GREEN tomatoes! - W
• Tomatillo salsa - W
• How to make roasted tomatoes, boiling water bath canner version - W

Canning Tomatoes in Pressure canners

• Canned tomatoes using a Pressure Canner - P
• NEW!Baked  Beans With Tomato or Molasses Sauce - P
• Canning your own chili con carne (with meat) - P
• How to make roasted tomatoes, pressure canner version - P
• Spaghetti sauce - with meat  - P
• Stewed tomatoes - P
• Tomato soup or tomato-basil soup - P
• Tomato sauce - P
• Tomato juice - P
• Tomato juice, like V8 - P

Freezing Tomatoes

• How to freeze tomatoes from you garden or the farm; for that fresh taste this winter!

For other fruit and vegetable festivals, see this page!