6 September Activities to Do in Butte County

Labor Day week­end in Butte Coun­ty means one thing — tub­ing down the Sacra­men­to Riv­er. Grab your friends and fam­i­ly and rent some tubes for one more relax­ing day on the water cel­e­brat­ing the unof­fi­cial end of summer.

Get ready to rock out at two great Chico con­certs this September.

Head to Down­town Chico on Sat­ur­day, Sept.9, 2023, for the inau­gur­al Chico­L­ive Music Fes­ti­val. From Noon-7pm, immerse your­self in the mag­ic of live music with four pop­u­lar bands per­form­ing at the Chico City Plaza. And after the final band, con­tin­ue the par­ty with Down­town Live, fea­tur­ing live music at var­i­ous down­town venues.

Coun­try music fans won’t want to miss the 3^rd annu­al Chico Coun­try Sum­mer­Fest, a fes­ti­val cel­e­brat­ing ​“All Things Coun­try!” Enjoy three live coun­try music trib­ute bands, great food, corn hole, gam­bling tables, a kids-zone, inflat­a­bles, games, ven­dors, and more on Sat­ur­day, Sept. 16, 2023.

Rac­ing fans have long flocked to Chico’s Sil­ver Dol­lar Speed­way for sprint car action on the quar­ter-mile oval, and the com­pe­ti­tion is at some of its fiercest dur­ing the Gold Cup Race of Cham­pi­ons. Kick­ing off Wed., Sept. 6, 2023, the mul­ti-day rac­ing event also includes a con­cert, glow part, and oth­er fun events on top of the high-com­pe­ti­tion rac­ing tak­ing place all week.

Put on your best Leder­ho­sen and get ready to yell Prost!

Long­time favorite Sier­ra Neva­da Oktoberfest returns in 2023! Join the brew­ery in the Hop Field for a Ger­man-inspired cel­e­bra­tion fea­tur­ing Sier­ra Neva­da beer (includ­ing their sea­son­al Okto­ber­fest Lager), ample fest food, live music, glass-blow­ing demos, a Chick­en Dance con­test, a Flash Your ​‘Stache com­pe­ti­tion, and more! This year’s extrav­a­gan­za will span two week­ends, Fri. 9/29-Sat. ⁹⁄₃₀ and Fri. 10/​6‑Sat. ¹⁰⁄₇, so you have four days to choose from! 

Anoth­er annu­al event pay­ing homage to local nature, the Salmon Fes­ti­val is a cel­e­bra­tion of the migra­tion sea­son that brings the fish back to the Feath­er Riv­er in advance of the spring spawn. Includ­ing a street fair with arts, crafts, and exhibits, com­plete with var­i­ous salmon dish­es, view­ings at the fish hatch­ery (and more), this is an out­stand­ing fam­i­ly event, espe­cial­ly for those with nature-lov­ing kids. Always the last Sat­ur­day in September.

You can also enjoy a guid­ed float down the Feath­er Riv­er, host­ed by the Fore­bay Aquat­ic Cen­ter. Start­ing at the Feath­er Riv­er Fish Hatch­ery and end­ing at River­bend Park, kayak down the riv­er and get up-close and per­son­al to the migrat­ing salmon. Vis­it the Fore­bay Aquat­ic Cen­ter’s web­site for more infor­ma­tion to and reserve your spot!

Up in the pines, Par­adise High School’s foot­ball pro­gram is peren­ni­al­ly a pow­er­house in the North­ern Sec­tion. Games at Om Wraith Field are a rau­cous, ener­getic blast — Par­adise res­i­dents turn out in droves whether they have kids on the team or not, and the field is nes­tled in the pines, giv­ing a feel­ing to vis­it­ing teams that they are step­ping into the Bob­cats’ well-guard­ed lair.

In Oroville, the jew­el remains Har­ri­son Sta­di­um, a mod­ern all-pur­pose sta­di­um that plays home to Oroville, Las Plumas, and, on occa­sion, even Butte Col­lege, a junior col­lege team of nation­al renown. 

Of course, if you’re more of an arm­chair quar­ter­back, there are numer­ous water­ing holes with big screens all across the coun­ty. If the com­fort of a chain restau­rant is your speed, Chico’s got Buf­fa­lo Wild Wings, but it’s also well worth check­ing out some more local fla­vor. Down­town Chico’s Madi­son Bear Gar­den remains a pop­u­lar choice for its many screens (includ­ing out­door patio TVs) and tasty burg­ers. If you’d rather watch the game over some bil­liards, The Keg Room in Oroville is a more cozy bar set­ting with a short menu of tasty bites and pool tables.