The Lodi Grape Festival and National Wine Show has celebrated San Joaquin County's grape and wine industry since 1934, when local organizers built a four-day fall celebration around the region's signature Flame Tokay grapes. Today it continues in downtown Lodi with wine tastings, grape displays, a wine competition, and exhibits recalling nine decades of harvest celebrations.
It has a strong agricultural identity tied to one of California's wine regions.
The festival's founding has an unusually specific origin: it grew out of a 1933 banquet thrown by Lodi's acting police chief to thank officers, firefighters, and volunteers who had helped keep order during that year's labor unrest, a gathering that turned into the idea for a public, community-wide celebration the following year
What makes it distinctive today is its dual identity as both a legacy county fair and a formal wine competition, run continuously since 1934 by the nonprofit Lodi Grape Festival and National Wine Show Association, one of the longer-running agricultural festivals of its kind in California
The festival's historic exhibits, gowns, dresses, and photographs from past Grand Parades down Pine Street, preserve a pageantry tradition that has faded even as its wine judging and agricultural focus remain intact
The festival's central traditions are its grape and wine judging competitions and its historical grounding in San Joaquin County's Flame Tokay grape industry
run since 1934 by the nonprofit Lodi Grape Festival and National Wine Show Association
whose founding mission was to promote the county's agricultural products
17–20 September 2026
Sacramento airport is a practical gateway.
Casual outdoor festival attire is standard; Lodi's Central Valley climate in September, when the festival is traditionally held, can still run warm during the day and cool noticeably in the...
At Lodi Grape Festival, agree on a meeting point and plan food, water and the return route before crowds thicken.
Lodi
Official ticket link is available. Confirm access rules before booking.
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Lodi Grape Festival is listed for 17–20 September 2026. Always re-check the official or local source close to travel.
The festival is listed in Lodi, United States. The map coordinate is a planning reference, not a guarantee of a ticket gate or exact venue.
4 days is the listed festival span. Add time for arrival, local transport, queues, and any route changes during the event.
Official source linked. Eventisimus separates source confidence from travel suggestions, so check final details before booking.
Lodi, CA
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