Page 68 - SLO Visitors Guide - Spring 2025

68 SPRING 2025 slovisitorsguide.com
Atascadero
How many tamales can you eat?
Find out at the 9th annual festival
Atascadero’s famous Tamale
Festival weekend kicks off with
Fiesta Friday on May 2, 2025, from
5:30-8 p.m. in the Sunken Gar-
den, downtown Atascadero. Free
admission to the festival includes
family-friendly activities, contests,
live music, and entertainment.
Sip & Shop: Fiesta Friday is a
special opportunity to browse par-
ticipating businesses, enjoy a variety
of wine, beer, coffee, and cider. Early
bird Sip & Shop tickets are available
through April 18 at atascaderocham-
ber.org/events. Regular-priced tick-
ets will be available until noon, May
2. The evening includes complimen-
tary tours of Historic City Hall!
Saturday’s main event starts at
11 a.m. and is packed with over 100
food and merchandise vendors with
close to 30 tamale vendors with
Tamales from gourmet, to traditional
and sweet. For the thirsty, enjoy mar-
garitas, craft beer, wine, cider, and
non-alcoholic beverages.
Saturday’s entertainment includes
Emcee Francisco Ramirez, Medina
Light Show Designs, music from
Voces Tapatias Mariachi, Ranchero
Artist Manuel Enrique and his horse,
the Famous Dancing Horses, and the
Aztec Folklorico Dance group! Live
music is featured on two stages.
Enjoy bounce houses, Zorb Balls,
obstacle courses, and bungee jumps
along with face painting, balloon
animals, a photo booth with Waffles
the miniature donkey, contests, and
plenty of fun for all ages!
Contests all day!
• Noon-12-30 p.m. — Find out
who wins the Best Tamale Contest
when winners are announced.
• 2 p.m. — Don’t miss the Chi-
huahua Pet & Costume Contest.
• 3 p.m. — Join the Tamale Eat-
ing Contest to find out how many
you can eat!
The Chihuahua Pet & Costume
and Tamale Eating contests are on
the steps of city hall. Enjoy!
Admission is free, but don’t for-
get to bring your wallet for the deli-
cious food, activities, and merchan-
dise. Be sure to stock up from your
favorite tamale vendors. Tamales
freeze well and you can enjoy them
for months!
All proceeds from the Tamale
Festival’s adult beverage sales on
Saturday benefit the Friends of the
Charles Paddock Zoo!
The festival is on May 2 from
5:30-8:30 p.m. and May 3 from 11
a.m.-7 p.m. at the Sunken Gardens,
6505 El Camino Real. More informa-
tion: atascaderotamalefest.com
More to do and see in
Atascadero
Central Coast Craft Beer Fest
This classic beer festival returns
for its sixth year with booths repre-
senting wineries, breweries, cideries,
and even kombucha producers. Lo-
cally made drinks are available along
with food trucks and merchants.
Games and live music make this a
family-friendly event that people
look forward to every year.
March 22 from noon-4 p.m. at
the Sunken Gardens, 6505 El Camino
Real. Purchase tickets at
centralcoastbrewersguild.com/beerfest.
Charles Paddock Zoo special
events
Party for the Planet is an Earth
Day celebration including education,
conservation, and fun for all ages on
April 19 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Ice Cream Zoofari on June 7,
5-8 p.m. is the time to beat the heat
on a warm summer evening with a
relaxing and delicious ice cream-
filled event!
Charles Paddock Zoo is located
at 9100 Morro Road, Atascadero.
Tickets are available at the kiosk at the
entrance or the gift shop. For hours,
tickets, more information, and upcom-
ing events visit chalespaddockzoo.org
or call (805) 461-5080.
Atascadero Citywide Yard Sale
Get ready for treasure hunting!
This yard sale, famous among locals
and visitors, has over 120 vendors
with thousands of quality finds.
Heading into its eighth year, this
event attracts everyone who loves a
good deal.
April 26 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at
various locations. Visit sites.google.
com/view/atascaderoyardsale for a
digital map.
Tamales! Sip &
Shop! Live music!
Dancing horses!
Tamales! Kid’s fun!
Did we mention
tamales?
Movies in the park
Enjoy free family-friendly movie
nights under the stars at Colony
Park. The movies begin 15 minutes
after sunset. Come early to enjoy a
variety of fun games and activities
including chalk drawing, frisbee
tossing, mini-soccer games, sack
races, and wiffle ball.
June 13 and July 11 from dusk
until 10 pm at Colony Park Softball
Field #2, located at 5599 Traffic Way.
Atascadero Lakeside Wine
Festival
The Atascadero Lakeside
WineFest showcases premier
wines from the Central Coast and
beyond at a sun-kissed lakeside
location! Celebrating its 28th anni-
versary, this festival boasts over 100
wines from more than 50 wineries,
breweries, and cideries, food vendors
serving delicious food, live music
from local Central Coast musicians,
and incredible art exhibitors.
Enjoy unlimited tastings, bring
a blanket and a low-back chair, and
enjoy the afternoon by the lake. Live
music and other activities fill the
park for a spectacular Winefest expe-
rience. The “roar-and-pour” puts
folks up close and personal with zoo
animals while winetasting within the
Charles Paddock Zoo, the only zoo
on the Central Coast. A portion of
the event proceeds benefit the zoo.
The wine festival is June 21, 4-8
p.m. at the Atascadero Lake Park at
9305 Pismo Avenue. For tickets and
more information visit
atascaderolakesidewinefestival.com.
Saturdays in the park
Enjoy the sounds of summer
at Atascadero Lake Park with lo-
cal bands performing live. Bring
low-backed chairs and blankets.
Enjoy the music and many food and
artisan vendors.
Weekly starting June 28-Aug 30,
6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Atascadero
Lake Park, 9305 Pismo Ave. Free
admission. For more information visit
visitatascadero.com/events.
—By Lisa Pretty
See traditional Mexican Folklorico dancers at the Tamale Festival.