About this Event
Great Valley Gathering
A Free, Three-Day Celebration of Central Valley Culture, Living Traditions, & Community
October 2–4, 2026 | Courthouse Park | Downtown Fresno
FREE and open to the public! 🎉
The Great Valley Gathering is coming to Courthouse Park in downtown Fresno from October 2-4, 2026. This is a free, three-day public event celebrating the living traditions, music, dance, storytelling, craft, and foodways that shape California’s Central Valley.
Produced by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) and rooted in the region’s rich agricultural history, the festival highlights a broad range of cherished expressions from diverse communities—Indigenous, immigrant, occupational, sacred, and more. Our inaugural festival will bring together culture bearers and communities from the Tulare Basin to the Sacramento Valley for a weekend filled with music, dance, food, storytelling, art, hands-on experiences, and more.
Fresno was selected as one of approximately 40 gatherings across the country to participate in the Smithsonian’s “Of the People” initiative in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary through cultural exchange and civic engagement.
What to Expect
🎶 Live Music & Dance
Experience performances representing the many cultures of the Central Valley, including Indigenous Mixtec, Armenian, Laotian, Mexican, and more.
🎤 The Great Valley Cypher
Don’t miss Saturday night’s culminating celebration featuring Fresno hip hop legend Fashawn and special guests from across genres.
🪶 Native Ways
Meet and learn from multigenerational Native culture bearers, including language keepers, basket weavers, singers, storytellers, acorn food specialists, and more.
🍽️ Foodways & Community Dishes
Discover the flavors and stories behind the Central Valley’s diverse culinary traditions.
🗣️ Community Conversations
Hear stories and perspectives from culture bearers and community members exploring themes of gathering, migration and immigration, Native stewardship, and futurism.
🎨 Hands on Heritage
Get up close with living traditions and skilled artisans, including lowrider engravers and painters, cowboy boot makers, Hmong textile artists, and more.
📖 “We Hold These Truths” Booth
Share your own self-evident truth and become part of a special project connected to the Smithsonian, with recordings archived as part of this national initiative.
Festival Schedule
Friday, October 2 | 4–10 p.m.
Food and performances begin at 4 p.m., followed by the Opening Ceremony at 5:15 p.m. Enjoy an evening concert featuring three bands performing regional Mexican music.
Saturday, October 3 | 10 a.m.–10 p.m.
Explore programming across four stages and additional festival areas throughout the day, culminating in the Great Valley Cypher featuring Fashawn and special guests.
Sunday, October 4 | 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Celebrate the final day of the festival with more music, dance, storytelling, food, and art.
Join the Gathering
The Great Valley Gathering is a festival of the people, by the people, and for the people of the Central Valley.
Come experience our past, our present, and our future this October at Courthouse Park!
📍 Courthouse Park
1100 Van Ness Ave.
Fresno, CA 93721
📅 October 2–4, 2026
🎟️ FREE for all three days
For the latest festival information, visit https://gathering.actaonline.org/ or https://www.instagram.com/caltradarts/.
#greatvalleygathering #elconviviodelvalle
Event venue & nearby stays
Courthouse Park, 1100 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.