Downieville Gold Rush Days

The festival is presented by Comstock Gold Prospectors of Reno, NV, along with Discover Downieville and HWY 49 Adventures, and it takes over most of the town at once (Discover Downieville). In 2026 the published festival hours were 10 am to 5 pm Friday, 10 am to 5 pm Saturday, and 10 am to 3 pm Sunday. Those are the festival's hours, not ours; our booth hours follow the day.

The vendor market ran out of the Community Hall with a prize draw at closing each day. Gold panning and prospecting went on down at the Downieville Riverfront Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. Chainsaw carving demonstrations ran on Maiden Lane, and the Nevada Gunfighters put on a live street performance on Main Street Saturday afternoon. The Yuba Theatre hosted a speaker series all weekend, local historian Lee Adams led a Sheriff's Gallows tour, Old Soles and Chris Hescock played evenings at St. Charles Place, and Sunday opened with a town pancake breakfast at the Masonic Hall. The 2026 edition also stretched past Downieville itself, through the canyon to Kentucky Mine Road in Sierra City (Discover Downieville).

The festival is newer than it looks. It came back in 2023 after a ten-year gap, running August 10 to 13 that year, and the organizers donated $3,500 to Downieville School out of it (Mountain Messenger). It ran again August 1 to 4 in 2024 (Comstock Gold Prospectors), then landed in September for 2026. The month has moved, so check the organizer's page rather than assuming a weekend.

Look for the tent. We pop our classic kettle corn fresh on site, big round mushroom kernels, real cane sugar, oil, and salt, stirred by hand in the kettle while you watch. Classic and caramel are always going, with a few of the specialty flavors along for the trip.

September in the canyon runs cold in the morning and warm by afternoon, so both halves of the booth get used: hot bags out of the kettle early, and fresh-squeezed Lemon Shakers, iced tea, and Arnold Palmers once the sun clears the ridge.

Our classic kettle corn is naturally gluten-free (corn, cane sugar, oil, salt). Flavored batches each have their own additional ingredients, so ask at the booth about a specific flavor. Our booths are nut-free, though we're not a certified nut-free facility.

William Downie's party found gold here in late 1849, the miners laid the town out the following spring and named it for him, and Downieville became the Sierra County seat when the county was formed in 1852. At its 1851 peak it held more than 5,000 people (Western Mining History). It's a good deal quieter now, which is part of why a festival weekend stands out.

Coming up from the Yuba-Sutter side, it's Highway 49 the whole way, following the North Yuba up the canyon. Further up the canyon in Sierra City, the Kentucky Mine Historic Park and Museum sits at 100 Kentucky Mine Rd with a restored stamp mill; it runs Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, 10 am to 4 pm, with guided mine and mill tours at 11 am and 2 pm (Sierra County Historical Society), so check ahead if you're up here outside that season.

This is our second mountain stop on the Highway 49 side of the circuit, after the Lost Sierra Artists & Crafters Fair over in Graeagle. Everywhere the kettles are actually booked shows up on the Find Us calendar, and that's the only place we confirm it.