Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 1–4:30pm (when UC Davis is in session)
Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis
UC Davis's insect museum opens its displays and live insects and arachnids to walk-in visitors for free on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 1 to 4:30pm, while the university is in session. Staffing can force closures, so check before you go. It's closed Nov. 11, Nov. 25 and Thanksgiving week, and over the winter break (Dec. 19 – Jan. 3).
The City of Roseville's Utility Exploration Center is an interactive science center about energy, water and recycling. September through May it's open Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday 10am–4pm and Thursday–Friday 12–4pm (closed Sunday and Monday).
The Bohart Museum of Entomology opens on a Saturday afternoon for a free open house focused on UC Davis graduate and undergraduate student research. See the insect collections and live insects and arachnids, and talk with the students who study them. The museum's pages list 1–4pm and 1–4:30pm. Campus parking is free on weekends.
Old Sacramento's annual Tree Lighting Ceremony fills K Street on Thanksgiving Eve with community performances from 5:30pm, then the season's first Theatre of Lights show at 6:15pm, when St. Nick lights the 60-foot holiday tree.
Old Town Elk Grove's annual Dickens Street Faire runs 10am to 5pm with live entertainment, crafts, free kids' activities in the Old Town Plaza, a fire department demonstration of Santa's rescue and photos with Santa. After the vendors close, carols and a story with Mr. and Mrs. Claus lead up to Santa lighting the Christmas tree on Walnut Street at 6pm.
Local businesses, organizations and schools decorate trees throughout downtown Roseville's Square, and the grove lights up with holiday crafts, music, visits with Santa and local vendors. It opens the city's Downtown Holiday Celebration the night before the main tree lighting.
Citrus Heights' free annual tree lighting is an evening at City Hall with the City Council, city staff and Santa Claus. The start time hasn't been posted yet; there are no food or craft vendors.
Roseville lights the city Christmas tree on the downtown Square with an old-fashioned celebration: cookie decorating, visits with Santa, a kids' activity zone, music and food. The tree is lit at about 6:10pm.
Historic Folsom's community Christmas tree lighting fills the Ice Rink Plaza and Sutter Street on a Friday evening, 6 to 9pm. Watching the lighting and the festivities is free; ice skating needs its own ticket.
The City of Elk Grove's 7th annual Illumination Holiday Festival is billed as an evening of free, family-friendly fun: a holiday vendor village, bounce houses, ice skating, the Grover Express Holiday Train, food trucks, photos with Santa and the lighting of the city's Ribbon Tree.
Chabad of Elk Grove's Light Up Elk Grove brings live performers and food vendors to Old Town Elk Grove, ending with the lighting of the menorah. Free and open to the public, 2 to 5pm.
On Saturdays and Sundays from Nov. 28 to Dec. 20, Old Sacramento closes K Street to cars and fills it with seating, lawn games, pop-up vendors and a Letters to Santa station, 12 to 4:30pm.
Verified Oct 27 · downtownsac.org
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