West Coast Ragtime Festival Current Year

First A Little Fanfare The Society produces the world's premiere annual ragtime festival in Sacramento, California, the ragtime capital of the world! The Festival is the best and biggest ragtime festival in the world. There's lots and lots of great music from the finest musicians and groups available spread over three days in convenient multiple venues, including dancing, at a very reasonable price. It's well managed and financially sound. No other festival offers such a terrific program!

Expect A Great Time At The Festival Don't expect to wait around to hear ragtime! It begins Friday at noon and goes until 11 PM and continues Saturday from 8 AM to 11 PM and Sunday from 9 AM until 5 PM. And you can expect after-hours Ragtime Friday and Saturday nights from 11 PM to, well, let's say late.

You do have to make choices. We have six venues all on the ground level with five of the venues in the same building. The fifth venue is less than a minute's walk from the main building. We run the venues at the same time. We rotate the closing of the venues for short periods to rest and tune the pianos.

And open during the Festival is our Ragtime Store where you can purchase music and recordings of our performers.

Last Year's Festival For an idea of a West Coast Ragtime Festival, be sure to check information (e.g., performers, schedule, etc) on last year's Festival. Also check back and take a look at pictures from the Festival.

Pre Festival Warm-up We will again have a free no-host pre-festival warm-up beginning at 7:00 PM on Thursday evening November 16, 2006 in the Sierra Room. There will be no charge or badges required. Pianos will be provided. It is open to all: ragtime fans, the merely curious, musicians (of course), and passers by.

This Year's Festival The 20th annual West Coast Ragtime Festival will be held November 17, 18, and 19, 2006 at the Red Lion Hotel Sacramento (formerly the Red Lion's Sacramento Inn) in Sacramento, California. The Festival begins at noon Friday November 17 and ends at 5 PM on Sunday November 19.

Details On The Festival Click on the links below to obtain specific information.

General The Festival is held at the Red Lion Hotel Sacramento. The Festival has become one of the premiere ragtime festivals in the world. It began in the mid 1980's in Fresno, California and enjoyed 10 successful years there before moving to Sacramento in 1997 where it has been a great success.

The 2006 Festival will feature six comfortable venues, all inside and on the ground level, for listening and dancing to ragtime music on all three days, as well as seminars on all facets of ragtime. Five of the venues are in the same building and the sixth venue is less than a minute's walk from the main building.

The music begins at noon on Friday and continues until 11 PM, followed by after-hours. Saturday is a full day from 9 AM to 11 PM, then after-hours, and Sunday is 9 AM to 5 PM. After-hours jam sessions Friday and Saturday are always the norm at the Festival.

Volunteers are the backbone of the Society. We welcome volunteers to assist with the Festival. Volunteer services are needed prior to, during, and after the Festival. Volunteers who serve a minimum of 12 hours during the festival (or immediately before or after the Festival) will receive an All-Events pass to the festival. Those who cannot serve 12 hours may serve one 4 hour shift on any day of the Festival and receive free admission for that day.

Special Reception for Festival Volunteers Only
Thursday, November 16, 6 to 7 p.m. in the Sierra Room
The Butch Thompson Trio will provide entertainment. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. This is our way of thanking our many volunteers for helping make this such a great festival. For this hour
ONLY VOLUNTEERS WILL BE ADMITTED.
Immediately following the Volunteer Reception, the Pre-Festival "Warm-up" Party continues in the Sierra Room at 7:00 pm and is open to the general public.

To sign up to assist with the festival, click here to email a request to volunteer or receive more information, or drop us a note at P.O. Box 13346, Sacramento, California 95813. Include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. You will be contacted to determine your preference for the type of volunteer service you can do for the festival and to work out your schedule.

Admission & Badges Admission to the performance venues is by use of Festival Badges (your badge is your ticket). A badge entitles the bearer to attend any function. Badges are not required for the Ragtime Store. Festival badges may be purchased for individual days or for the entire three days.

Badge Prices
All-Event Badge (Until 10/31/06*)	$80.00
All-Event Badge (11/1/06 & after*)	$85.00
Friday Only Badge	$35.00
Saturday Only Badge	$45.00
Sunday Only Badge	$25.00
Late arrivals after 5 PM, badge prices are 1/2- price. Available at the registration table only.
Children 16 and under may attend free (no badge required) when accompanied by a paying adult.
Day badges for adults bringing children under 16 are half price. The half-price discount is available at the registration table only, and the child must be present at the time of purchase.
* Cutoff dates are by postmark.

Badges may be purchase any of four ways.
By Mail with personal check or money order	Click here for printable order form.
Online using PayPal What is PayPal? To find out, click here.	Click here to order 2006 badges now with PayPal. Don't have PayPal? Sign up during checkout.
By phone using your credit card	Call 9 AM to 9 PM (PDT) 415-924-6834 or toll-free 1-866-724-9277
At the festival. Purchase your badge at the door.	Cash or credit card accepted.

Lodging The Red Lion Hotel Sacramento (formerly the Sacramento Inn) is the official festival hotel for the 2006 Festival. They are offering a block of rooms at special rates if reserved prior to October 18, 2006:

Room Size	Special Nightly Rate
Single or double occupancy	$78
Triple or quadruple occupancy	$88
Oversize deluxe rooms	$15 additional

Remember to ensure the special rates you need to make your reservations before October 18, 2006 and mention that you are making them for the "West Coast Ragtime Festival".

It's best to make your reservations directly with the hotel at: (916) 922-8041. If you use the Red Lion central reservation number (800)-RED LION, make sure you identify your reservations as being for the "West Coast Ragtime Festival" in order to get the special festival rate.

RV Parking Parking for recreational vehicles are available within the vicinity of the Red Lion Hotel Sacramento. Below are some of the available options which were available for the 2005 Festival.

Red Lion Hotel Sacramento: On site dry parking only for RV's is available at the east end of the parking lot. The fee is $25 for the Festival. You must register with the hotel (916) 922-8041.

Cal Expo RV Park: RV parking is available on the grounds of the California State Exposition which is located about a five minute drive from the Festival. The nightly cost for a full hookup is $26 for a 30 amp hookup and $28 for a 50 amp hookup. To reach the park from the hotel, go east on Arden way to Ethan Way. (domed cinemas). Turn right to end of Ethan Way. Entrance is on the right. To contact the park, write to Cal Expo RV Park, PO Box 15649, 1600 Exposition Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95852. Or call (916) 263-3187 or toll free (877) 225-3976. Reservations are recommended. You may also visit their website at: http://www.calexpo.com/html/RVPark.html

Elks Lodge - Carmichael: RV facilities are available for Elks members at the Carmichael Elks Lodge located about 20 minutes from the hotel. Contact Elks Lodge, 5631 Cypress Ave., Carmichael, CA (916) 428-8296.

TTN/NACO Members: RV facilities are available at Lake Minden which is about a 30 minute drive from the festival. Contact them at Thousand Trails, 1256 Marcum Rd., Nicolaus, CA; 95659 (530) 656-2700 or (800) 656-5006; or visit their website.

By Air: Several major air carriers serve the Sacramento International Airport and shuttle service (Supershuttle - the blue vans) to and from the hotel is available.

By Car: The festival site (Red Lion Hotel Sacramento) is located on Arden Way adjacent to the "Capital City Freeway" (business I-80). Use the "Arden Way" exit either from the north or south and go east. The Red Lion Hotel Sacramento is located on the north side of Arden Way next to the Arden Fair Shopping Mall. Click here for driving instructions.

Official Travel Agency: Miyamoto Travel Service. Contact them at: (916) 441-1020 Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM PDT. Ask for Judy or Raymonde.
Email: raymonde@miyamototravel.com.

Venues The five performance venues and a general layout of the hotel are shown in the Venue Map below. The various venues are described below with a color code relating back to the map.

Martinique Ballroom Yes, we have dancing! This venue is equipped with a large dance floor and the music presented here is intended to keep dancers on their feet from "morn' 'til night". Several hours of dance instruction are presented here to help you learn or brush up on the dance steps of the ragtime era. On Friday evening dancers put on their best early 20th century attire to participate in the Cake Walk contest (two cakes awarded) and on Saturday evening, with even fancier attire, dancers join in the special Grand March.

The Yosemite Room is the second largest venue of the Festival. Headline performances and special concerts are presented in this venue.

The Comstock 3 Room is not as large as the other venues, but some of the fine music and entertainment presented there in the past made it feel like a grand concert hall and often made it SRO. Sets are 30 minutes in this venue compared to the 45 minute to one hour sets in the other venues. The room is also used for Open Piano Sessions.

The Camellia Room is another large concert venue for music and special events. Seminars will be presented Saturday and Sunday in this venue.

The

Savanna's Lounge is a cafe-bar setting with a dance floor. It's a relaxed, intimate setting. After-hours jam sessions happen here. There is also an excellent dance floor.

In addition during the Festival, the Ragtime Store is open in the Comstock 1 & 2 Rooms where you can purchase the recordings and music folios of the Festival performers.

Dining The hotel has a very nice Coffee Garden Cafe open from 6 AM to 10 PM daily, offering a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner items plus a convenient buffet during all three mealtimes. Additionally, a "Ragtime Cafe" will be located near the festival venues and will feature ready made hot and cold items for cash sale. Also, there are many restaurants from "Fast Food" to "Fine Dining" within walking distance of the hotel.

Performers Check the 2006 Festival XX Performer Pictures Page, which has small pictures of the performers. The page also provides links to biographies for the performers. New performers will be announced throughout the year. The current list of performers that will appear at the Festival are below.

indicates that the entry has been added with this update.

Individual Performers
Andrew Barrett (Youth Performer) Costa Mesa, California	Mimi Blais Montreal, Canada	Neil Blaze Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Nan Bostick Menlo Park, California	Chris and Jack Bradshaw Gilroy, California	Tom Brier Sacramento, California
Shirley Case Laguna Beach, California	Jared DiBartolomeo (Youth Performer) Pleasant Hill, California	Richard Egan Manchester, Missouri
Marty Eggers Oakland, California	Frank French San Francisco, California	Anne Gibson Oakland, California
Dan Grinstead Seattle, Washington	Frederick Hodges Berkeley, California	Brian Holland Fort Worth, Texas
Glenn Jenks Camden, Maine	Mark Allen Jones Carmel, California	Ken Keeler Oakley, California
Sue Keller Oak Forrest, Illinois	Morten Gunnar Larsen Oslo, Norway	Carl Sonny Leyland New Cuyama, California
Nancy Piver and Stanley L. Stern Los Osos, California	Jim Radloff Eau Claire, Wisconsin	John Remmers Ann Arbor, Michigan
Robbie Rhodes Etiwanda, California	Sophie Rivard Quebec, Canada	David Thomas Roberts Bunker, Missouri
Jack Rummel Niwot, Colorado	Steve Sandiford Marshfield, Wisconsin	Sue Schmitt Los Altos, California
Mike Schwimmer Minneapolis, Minnesota	Hal Smith La Jolla, California	Adam Swanson (Youth Performer) Borger, Texas
Butch Thompson Stockholm, Wisconsin	Virginia Tichenor Oakland, California	Stephanie Trick (Youth Performer) St. Louis, Missouri
Adam Yarian (Youth Performer) Bowie, Maryland		Terry Waldo New York, NY

Seminar Leaders & Topics
"Ragtime's Mechanical Partner" By Stephen Kent Goodman	"The Life and Music of Harry Austin Tierney" By Eric Marchese
"The Naked Dance: The Music of Storyville"\| By Terry Waldo	"Roy Bargy: The Genius of Novelty Ragtime" By Robert Bradford
"The Ragtime Machine 25^th Anniversary" By David Reffkin	"Music Is an Art - And That Includes Ragtime" Mimi Blais

Special Theme Sets Check back later for listing of theme sets.
Throughout the festival there are special theme sets and show performed by individual performers.

Annual Meeting The Annual Meeting of the Society will be held on Sunday, November 19, 2006 at 8:30 AM in the Yosemite Room.

Dance Instruction Dance instruction is held on all three days of the Festival in the Martinique Room.

Open Piano Open piano will be held throughout the Festival. Open Piano is a chance for ANYONE to get up and play--even if you only know one number! To sign up, see the MC, who will take your name, tell you when it's your turn to play, and introduce you. The schedule will be announced later.

After Hours After hour sessions, another festival tradition, are held Friday and Saturday from 11 PM till the wee hours in the Savanna's Lounge. All are welcome to play and socialize, with the only "rule" being to yield the stage after a reasonable time if someone else is waiting for a chance to play.

Ragtime Store Visit the Ragtime Store in Comstock 1 & 2 for all your ragtime music needs. Performers’ recordings, folios and more are available will be available. The tentative Store schedule is: Click here for list of vendors. Check back later for listing of vendors.

More Information If you haven't found the festival information you were looking for, click here to email a request for festival information. You contact us by phone; the Sacramento area number is (916) 457-3324 or you may call toll-free at 1-866-724-9273. To contact us by mail, click here for the address on the Contact Us page.