What Events are Coming to Ventura in 2022?

What events are coming to Ventura in 2022? Here you go. Because while it’s important to live in the moment, it’s also good fun to look ahead too. As many a wise sage — and a ketchup ad — has pointed out, anticipation is half the fun.

And the upcoming months in Ventura offer honeymoon anticipation.

This, of course, isn’t everything. Please check our Visit Ventura Events Page for upcoming events. And if you are putting on a Ventura event, please feel free to post your event on our Events page. Our website Events page reaches thousands of followers every month. And it’s so easy to post your event, your five-year-old could do it. Hmmm. Maybe that’s a bad example.

Ventura Harbor Parade of Lights

Friday, December 16 and Saturday, December 17

There’s magic in lights (and fireworks) mirrored in the water. Boaters deck their boats to the nines, then parade their shimmering creations on Friday and Saturday night, the visual extravaganza capped by fireworks. There’s child-like magic in the spectacularly decorated boats throwing their lights across the water. On dry land, small town magic in kiddie rides, sweet treats, and cozy-warm drinks all about the small Ventura Harbor Village. Cost? Keeping in the spirit, the event and parking are free.

Winter Wine Walk & Holiday Street Fair

Saturday, December 3

Who says a Southern California beach town can’t do Winter? Ventura’s downtown Main Street is closed to traffic and bands play and elves dance and vendors sell their wares and, yes, over 80 tasting sites pour wine, sparkling wine and craft beer. Note to self — most of the pours are local, and some you won’t find outside Ventura. Additional note to self — several Ventura wineries and breweries have won national and international awards. And then, as the evening deepens, it’s time to hold your face up to the snowfall. Yep, snowfall. Turn your face to the sky and watch the flakes swirl against the night sky. Ventura’s winter might be the best kind. No shoveling the driveway the next morning.

World Waveski Surfing Titles 2022

Monday, November 7th through Sunday, November 13th

Event organizers expect at least 100 competitors from all over the United States, as well as from the waveski hotbeds of Australia, South Africa, France, Spain, Portugal and Peru to descend on Ventura Point. Never seen a world class waveskier work their wave riding magic? Prepare to have your mind blown. The last time the event was held in the U.S. was in 1986 in Hawaii.  

Ivor Davis: Up Close and Person with Joe Sohm

Thursday, November 3

The Museum of Ventura County is pleased to present a special conversation with one of the nation’s top political photographers. Joe Sohm is America’s photo-historian — he created “Visions of America” and has a Gold Medal winning tabletop book “Visons of America – Photographing Democracy”. See Joe Sohm at the Museum of Ventura County

HOWL-O-Ween Dog Costume Contest

Saturday, October 29th

It can’t get any cuter than Ventura Habor Village’s Howl-o-Ween Dog Costume Contest. Event organizers encourage contestants to pre-register as only a limited number of walk-in furry friends will be accepted to participate. Space is limited to the first 60 dogs and each of those who are in the contest will receive a small goodie bag of pup prizes. 5 Grand Prizes will be handed out at the event. Pre-registration opens October 20 — check back here for updates.

Kids Seaside Trick or Treat 2022

Sunday, October 30th

Bring the kids out for a day of fun at Ventura Harbor Village! From 11 AM – 1 PM, kids can get candy at participating shops and enjoy face painting, games, and family fun.

Seaside Oddities Expo

Saturday, October 15th

Jump into the Halloween season at this year’s Seaside Oddities Expo at the Ventura Fairgrounds. This all-ages event features the odd, the strange, and the unusual. Antique pieces will be on display and there will be performances each hour, including Vita DeVoid!

Ventura Boots & Brews Country Music Festival

Friday, October 14th

Don’t miss out on the season finale of Ventura’s Boots & Brews Country Music Festival with Tim McGraw. Boots & Brews is more than just a concert — it’s about celebrating friends and family and having a great time!

Seaside Highland Games

Saturday, October 8th, Sunday, October 9th

For two days (9 am to 5 pm) Celtic and Scottish culture arrives at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in all its glory, fun, and one-of-a-kind celebration and spectacle. Highland dance competitions, Scottish athletics, Piping and Pipe bands, and a wealth of Celtic vendors, food,  whisky and beer tastings, and great music (four stages of continuous music featuring Angry Brians, Ploughboys and Sligo Rags, The Browne Sister and more). And clans happily enjoying it all. Get your tickets here. 

Surf n’ Suds Beer Festival

Saturday, October 8th

Surf ‘N Suds, rated one of the country’s best beer festivals, returns to Ventura’s San Buenaventura State Beach. Live music, food trucks and over 60 craft breweries, ciders, seltzers, kombucha, and wineries on site. Decreed Plato; “He was a wise man who invented beer.” Nice touch, the Festival benefits The Young and Brave Foundation! 

Pier Under the Stars

Saturday, October 1st

The Ventura Pier is, in many ways, Ventura’s centerpiece; living history, front and center. And it is a fine thing to know where we came from. Pier into the Future helps preserve the Ventura Pier, and this annual fundraiser is a great way to contribute to the cause. Your ticket(s) help support pier preservation – and they buy you a lovely evening of food, drink and dancing beside the Ventura Pier. Yes, under the stars (5 pm to 8 pm).

The Taste of Local Festival

Sunday, September 11th

One of Ventura’s favorite – and tastiest and kindest (always raising money for good causes) – community events returns. The Taste of Local Festival will bring together over 50 area chefs, farmers, purveyors, wineries, breweries, and distilleries – and you win. So does the Ventura community. Proceeds from the Taste of Local Festival will benefit the Totally Local VC Agricultural Education Foundation. This year, Taste of Local is being held at the lawn area of Ventura County Credit Union’s corporate office in Ventura. All food and samples are included in the admission price.

14th Annual Summer Festival at Ventura Harbor Village

Saturday, September 10th and Sunday, September 11th (10 am to 5 pm)

The Summer Festival’s centerpiece is the Ventura Art & Street Painting Festival – in short, the rare chance to see first-rate artists working outside of their studio; painters working in real time right before your very eyes. Artists will showcase their bewitching works near the Fisherman’s Memorial between popular waterfront restaurants Andria’s Seafood Restaurant & Market and Brophy Bros Clam Bar & Restaurant. Vendors will also sell original paintings, pottery, photography and jewelry, and sidewalks along the water’s edge Village Promenade will be the canvas for colorful street painters, creating lovely chalk pastel murals. Inspired children can join in and create their own art in the Children’s Chalk Area. Live music too. Admission & parking are free. Additional good – the event benefits FOOD Share of Ventura County and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura.

Aloha Beach Festival

Saturday, September 3rd, and Sunday, September 4th

Aloha returns to Ventura. To be precise, the 14th Aloha Beach Festival will spread its booths, music, tasty food and beverages, and good vibes along the promenade at Surfer’s Point and Promenade Park. The Festival will host the C-Street Longboard Classic surfing contest, paddle-board and outrigger canoe racing, along with entertainment by local Hawaiian dancers, local surf reggae, and, just plain and lovely, really cool vibes. The Festival is one of the last free festivals in Southern California. Additional cool, this year’s festival will directly benefit the MERITO Foundation. Nonstop stoke from 10 am to 8 pm both days.

Spencer Makenzies Throw Down

Friday, August 26th, Saturday, August 27th, and Sunday, August 28th

The Throw Down is the largest cash cornhole tournament in the world, hundreds of teams – and many of the world’s best cornhole players – vying for prestige and a whole lot of cash prizes. Spectators don’t lose out either; food, drink and, yep, great live music. Always a chance of a surprise performer too. Surf guitar legend Dick Dale has played, and Chuck D. of Public Enemy fame dropped by a couple of years back for an impromptu jam of “Bring the Noise.” Held at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Boots & Brews Country Music Festival

Saturday, August 20th

Boots & Brews keeps it simple – cold beer, friends, and great country music;  all of it beside the sea at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Boots & Brews knows country. Previous performers include Randy Houser, Midland, and Jake Owen. This year shines too with Cole Swindell, Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry, and Raelynn. The music – and fun – reigns from 1 pm to 9 pm. Grab your dancing boots.

Cool Breeze Century Ride

Saturday, August 20th

The aptly named Cool Breeze Century ride is actually five rides, giving everyone an option. There’s the Classic Century (100 miles, with just the right amount of hills, and a whole lot of cool ocean), the Hilly Century (yep, more hills), the Double Century (yes, there are hills and twice the distance, but still cool and reasonable), the Metric Century (fairly flat and a bit short of 100 miles) and the Mini (just a fun 30-mile jaunt, mostly beside the ocean). A delicious Peirano’s after–ride buffet is included in the entry fee.

Ventura Land Trust Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Saturday, August 20th

Ventura Land Trust’s annual benefit, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival inspires environmental activism and a love for nature through film. It also defines community. Show-stopping films, yes. But also food, drink, and reams of raffle items provided by local businesses. Because, yes, it’s a fundraiser for one of Ventura’s favorite causes, allowing VLT to continue to preserve lands, build trails, plant trees, and clean up local rivers. Making the world a better place. Held outdoors on the grounds of the Ventura County Credit Union from 5 pm to 10 pm. This year, the film festival will be offered as both a live or a virtual experience. The 2022 film festival will feature nearly two hours of films. Get your tickets to either version here. 

Ventura County Fair

Wednesday, August 3rd through Sunday, August 14th 

Carousel kisses, exhibits (art to agriculture), outdoor concerts, professional rodeo, 4-H livestock, rainbow fireworks, the smells of fried dough and cinnamon, hand-holding under the stars, happy shrieks, and memories made on the sea breeze. The Ventura County Fair is back. And the musical lineup? Wow. Among others, the Beach Boys, Martina McBride, Blue Oyster Cult, Cheap Trick, and KC & the Sunshine Band. Yep, the concerts are free with admission. Parking at the Fairgrounds is limited. Free shuttle buses are provided from off Fairground sites located around Ventura. Find everything you need to know about off site parking here.

We Banjo 3

Friday, July 29th 

Year after year the Ventura Music Festival brings world-class musicians to Ventura County. This year is no exception. This year’s Festival lineup includes Adaawe, the Django Festival Allstars, Sean Chen, The Moanin’ Frogs, Veronica Swift, and The Crossing. Why not start We Banjo 3, two sets of brothers from Galway, Ireland, and Nashville, Tennesse, who passionately and seamlessly blend Americana, Bluegrass, and Celtic music with pop-sensible songcraft to create a joyously signature sound. Banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and percussion blend effortlessly – and beautifully. 7:30 pm at the Ventura College Performing Arts Center. 

Adaawe: Free Concert in Plaza Park 

Wednesday, July 27

Yes, our friends at the Ventura Music Festival are kicking off this year’s Ventura Music Festival with a free concert in Plaza Park (in front of the Post Office downtown). Beginning at 5:30 pm Adaawe will spend 90 minutes entertaining lucky listeners, mixing West African roots, Gospel harmonies and American funk, with energy you won’t forget. Yes, they’ve opened for Mickey Hart, James Brown, and Michael Franti. This one is free. Bring your low-back lawn chairs, blanket, and a picnic, and enjoy.

Shoreline Marathon

Sunday, July 17th

The Shoreline Marathon also offers a half marathon, a 10K, and a 5K; in short, a run for everyone. The marathon and half marathon course start at Emma Wood State Beach Group Campground and head north onto the bike path until the bike path merges with the Highway 1 bike path that runs right along the beach. Runners stay on the ocean side the entire race so the race promises to be cool and fast. Both the half marathon and the marathon turn around at 6.5 miles. Marathoners, you’ll do the loop twice. Yes, it’s a Boston Marathon Qualifier.

Surf Rodeo

Friday, July 15th, Saturday, July 16th, and Sunday, July 17th

Surfers competing in vests and cowboy hats (and you never know who they’ll be; 11-time world champ Kelly Slater has shown up – just because the Surf Rodeo has an underground rep for plain fun), a huge cornhole tournament, the world’s biggest beach bar on the sand, mechanical bulls, and musical stages scattered across the beach beside the Ventura Pier (over 40 bands this time around). Trust us, there’s nothing like the Surf Rodeo festival. Started by Ventura local John Drury (thank you, JD) as an antidote to all things serious. Perfect.

Tequila & Taco Music Festival

Saturday, July 9th and Sunday, July 10th

California’s largest traveling Tequila & Taco Music Festival returns to the Ventura County Fairgrounds courtesy of Surfer’s Point LIVE. Top shelf tequila sampling, gourmet street tacos, craft beer, award-winning margaritas, arts & crafts vendors, and live music all day (headliners will be announced in May). Pretty hard to think of anything more summertime happy. 

Ventura County BBQ Fest

Saturday, June 11th and Sunday, June 12th

Surfer’s Point Live hosts another fun one at the Ventura County Fairgrounds beside the sea – and right on time for Father’s Day. The Ventura County BBQ Fest features a handpicked roster of barbecued meat masters and chefs serving up mouthwatering BBQ, specially paired with craft beer. Also whiskey tastings, live music, and a Classic Car Show. Sounds like all the food groups are covered. 

Mountains 2 Beach Marathon and Half Marathon

Sunday, June 5th

The Mountains 2 Beach Marathon and Half Marathon has been a Ventura community fixture since 2011. It’s also become something of a local hero, raising thousands for local schools, hospitals and land trusts. What can you do? Sign up for the marathon, the half marathon, or the 5K. The marathon starts in Ojai and heads on a slight downhill to finish near the Ventura Pier. Making it fast. And yep, it’s a Boston Marathon qualifier.  

2022 Cal Tri Ventura

Sunday, May 15th

All kinds of endurance fun. Take a deep breath – there are seven Olympic distance events (Triathlon, Triathlon Relay, RunBikeRun, SwimBike, SwimRun, 1640 Yard Swim & 10K Run) and seven Sprint distance events (Triathlon, Triathlon Relay, RunBikeRun, SwimBike, SwimRun, 400 yard Swim & 5K Run). Just as good, Cal Tri Ventura is a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. Events begin at Harbor Cove Beach. 

Bike MS

Saturday, May 14th and Sunday, May 15th

Ventura is always proud to welcome Bike MS. This year’s two-day ride will start in Santa Monica and ride up the coast, overnighting in Ventura before cyclists mount up to pedal through the lovely Ventura County seaside or countryside on rides of either 30 or 50 miles. More beauty – the largest fundraising cycling series in the world, each year Bike MS sees nearly 75,000 cyclists around the country ride to raise money to combat multiple sclerosis. 

Ventura Land Trust Gear Garage Sale

Saturday, April 30th

A kind, cool, and very Ventura event. Two community players – the Ventura Land Trust and Topa Topa Brewing Company, team up for the first-ever Gear Garage Sale, a second-hand outdoor gear sale to benefit VLT. The sale begins at noon at Topa Topa’s Colt Street establishment. Ventura being Ventura, there’s going to be some great gear. And you’re supporting a great cause.

Surfboard Swap & Raffle

Saturday, April 23rd

Buy, sell or trade pretty much any kind of wave riding craft at Traveler Surf Club & Coastal Outpost’s aptly named “Surfboard Swap & Raffle” (raffle prizes include a one-month membership to Traveler Surf Club, and a $150 gift card to Mint Ding Repair). Talk story and design with other wave riding aficionados and oogle vintage boards from Longboard Collectors Club and boards from local shapers Wardo Surfboards and Jive Surf. From 8 am to 1 pm at 228 East Thompson Boulevard. Surfers Point Cafe will be whipping up some specialty items on their menu for the event.

Spring Wine Walk & Street Fair

Saturday, April 9th

Ventura’s annual Spring Wine Walk & Street Fair is a pretty straightforward — and hugely popular — affair. First, the free Street Fair (starting at 11am) on Main Street, with vendors and live entertainment. Then (3pm to 6pm) wine and craft beer tasting: champagne, wine, and craft beer samplings at over fifty tasting locations in downtown Ventura, all within easy walking distance of each other. Buy your tasting ticket, receive a Wine Walk wristband, a tasting cup, and a map of the participating tasting sites throughout downtown Ventura — and head off for a memorable afternoon of palate-pleasing fun. 

Punk in Drublic Craft Beer and Music Festival 

Sunday, March 27th

Unlimited craft beer tastings, food vendors and trucks, and live music from the likes of NOFX, Pennywise, Face to Face, Lagwagon, and Ill Repute. Event questions? Find your answers here.

Saint Patrick’s Day Parade

Saturday, March 12th

Ventura celebrates Irish in style, with big time, small-town flair. High school bands, hometown floats, local Irish dancers from the nationally acclaimed Claddagh Dance Company, and a local personage/Grand Marshall waving and overseeing it all. The Ventura Saint Patrick’s Day Parade starts at 10 am. Still running along Main Street, the 2022 parade will begin at Lincoln Drive and run west to Fir Street, ending around noon. Pubs downtown will celebrate too. 

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