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 for a day of culi­nary delights and vibrant music as Down­town Chico hosts the much-antic­i­pat­ed Taste of Down­town: Restau­rant & Pub Crawl fol­lowed by a free con­cert in the plaza on Sun­day, Sept. 8, 2024. Food and music lovers alike will be delight­ed by a diverse array of ​“Bites & Sips” at local restau­rants and pubs, each pre­sent­ing their sig­na­ture dish­es and drinks, along with a series of live performances.

Coun­try music fans won’t want to miss the 4^th annu­al Chico Coun­try Fest, 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. 21, 2024.

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

Long­time favorite Sier­ra Neva­da Oktoberfest returns in 2024! 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. 9/27-Sat. ⁹⁄₂₈ and Fri. 10/​4‑Sat. ¹⁰⁄₅, 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.