From the City Manager: Atascadero is a great place to be this summer!
Atascadero City Manager Rachelle Rickard.
News from the City
By City Manager Rachelle Rickard
July, 2019
Atascadero is the place to be and it’s the ideal time to take advantage of all that our community has to offer. We have lots of fun and exciting events going on throughout these long, hot, lazy days of summer that will be sure to help keep everyone entertained and if you’ve never hiked our beautiful trails, ridden a bicycle around Atascadero Lake, played a round of golf at Chalk Mountain or visited the Charles Paddock Zoo, then now is the time to do it!
You’re never too young, or too old for that matter, to start enjoying the AZA-accredited Charles Paddock Zoo and now there are even more reasons to stop by for a visit! Try out our newest Zoo event – Wild About Art – on Saturday, Aug. 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Everyone can come enjoy a day of arts & crafts at a fun, unique, and artistically inspirational location. We’ll have animal artists, face painting, workshops, beautiful local art available for purchase and much more, all for the price of your entry fee. Plus, you don’t want to miss seeing our beautiful new Red Panda Exhibit!
During the summer, there are lots of Lakeside events to enjoy, which include the annual Tuesday Evenings in the Park BBQ’s hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Atascadero Lake Park every Tuesday through Aug. 6, except for July 23. The price of your ticket supports various local non-profit groups and you’ll have a delicious Elks BBQ dinner with all the trimmings followed by great music by the Atascadero Community Band. And don’t miss out on our 2019 Saturday Summer Concert Series, which is held most Saturday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Atascadero Lake Park bandstand through Sept. 14, and features some really terrific bands and a variety of music styles throughout the summer. The concerts are free and open to the public.
Get ready to start your engines at Cruisin’ Weekend! This very exciting two-day long event will be held on Friday, Aug. 16 and Saturday, Aug. 17. The weekend kicks off with our 27th Annual Hot El Camino Cruise Nite on Friday evening beginning at 6:30 p.m. This annual cruise attracts hundreds of really beautiful classic cars for everyone to enjoy. Then the 30th Annual Mid-State Cruizers Car Show will be held on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Atascadero Lake Park; and we’ll finish off Saturday evening with our 4th Annual Dancing in the Streets! This is a summer concert blowout and dance party with lots of head-bopping-can’t-stop-your-foot-tapping music from a variety of live bands, to take place throughout the Downtown Colony District from 5 to10 p.m.
Enjoy more great family fun at our free Movies in the Gardens, which will be held Saturday evenings during the month of August (except Aug. 17) at Sunken Gardens, with family rated movies beginning at about 8 p.m. Bring the kids along with some low back chairs and blankets to relish our warm summer evenings, outdoors with a movie under the stars!
Don’t forget about our wonderful Farmer’s Market which is held every Wednesday afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m. at Sunken Gardens. For our over 21 crowd, the market will feature our Summer Siesta Tap Takeover on Wednesday, Aug. 7 to help kick off the 4th annual Central Coast Cider Festival Weekend! Then enjoy the Art, Wine & Brew Tour in Downtown Atascadero on Friday Aug. 9 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.; and the Cider Festival will be a great opportunity to taste a variety of ciders, meet the cider makers and enjoy dinner, a great band and the locale! It will be held on Saturday, Aug. 10, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Pavilion on the Lake and beautiful Atascadero Lake Park.
On another note, there’s no need to fight traffic and try to find parking to visit the fair! During the entire run of the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles, we’ll have three shuttle bus stops located in town this year – on El Camino Real at Sunken Gardens; El Camino Real at Smart ‘n Final; and at Springhill Suites. Buses will be running every 15-30 minutes beginning at 4 p.m. throughout each evening of the fair. In addition to the free bus shuttles, there’s another enticing option for getting to and from the fair this year; Colony Market and Deli is offering special packages that will allow you to enjoy a cold beverage and delicious food, while leaving the driving to them!
And don’t forget to start practicing your corn-tossing skills now for the 4th Annual Showdown Cornhole Tournament to be held on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21 and 22 at Sunken Gardens.
Whew! That’s a lot to do, so we encourage everyone to get out and enjoy the community! You can find all of the scheduling information and other important details for these city activities and much more at visitatascadero.com.
