This page updated 11/20/2013
Previous update 11/14/2013

Festival XXVII Information
November 22-24, 2013

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, all 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 9 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 sixth 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.

This Year's Festival The 26th annual West Coast Ragtime Festival will be  held November 22, 23, and 24, 2013 at the Clarion Inn & Conference Center Arden Village in Sacramento, California. The Festival begins at noon Friday November 22 and ends at 5 PM on Sunday November 24.  

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

Questions? Click here to email a request for Festival Information, We respond!

General The Festival is held at the Clarion Inn & Conference Center Arden Village in Sacramento. (Click here for hotel lodging information.) 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 2013 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.

To request information not found on this web site, you may contact Bub or Petra Sullivan at 1-866-RAG-WCRF (724-9273), or you may send an email by clicking here..

Pre Festival Warm-up We will again have a free, no-host pre-festival warm-up beginning at 7:30 PM on Thursday evening November 21, 2013 in the J.B.'s Lounge. While 7:30 PM is the official start time, J.B.'s will be open from 4:00 PM on, so, the party can start whenever people arrive. 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.

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.

 

LODGING  UPDATE! The Clarion is SOLD OUT. See Additional Lodging below.
	The Clarion Inn & Conference Center Arden Village, 1401 Arden Way, is the official festival hotel for the 2013 Festival. They have offered a block of rooms at special rates if reserved prior to Nov 1, 2013. Reservations phone number: 916-922-8041. Make sure you identify your reservations as being for the "West Coast Ragtime Festival" in order to get the special festival rate. Be sure to request your reservation confirmation number. Click here for hotel web site.
Important Reservation Information Phone the local 916-922-8041 ONLY. Do make reservations using the 800 number or the Clarion website. When making reservations, be sure to get and record; Date you called Name of the person who took your reservation Dates reserved The reservation Confirmation Number Cutoff date for "festival rates" is November 1, 2013
Room Size Special Nightly Rate Single or double occupancy $99.00 - check for availability Triple or quadruple occupancy $109.00 - check for availability
ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL LODGING is available at the Red Lion Woodlake and Conference Center in Sacramento on nearby Leisure Lane.  Room rates: $99.00 1 or 2 persons and $109.00 3 or 4 persons, includes free shuttle service all day/evening to and from the festival. Click here for detailed shuttle information. Reservations: (916) 922-2020. Be sure to mention your reservation is for the West Coast Ragtime Festival.
Contact:	Red Lion Woodlake and Conference Center  500 Leisure Ln. Sacramento, CA 95815 (916) 922-2020	Red Lion Woodlake and Conference Center. The Red Lion Woodlake is located about 2 miles (5 minutes) west of the Clarion Inn.. Shuttle service is provided day/evening between the hotels.

Food Service

• Garden Coffee Cafe 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM
• Bar service from 3:00 PM to 2:00 AM
• A buffet will be located next to the restaurant. Open for breakfast 7-10, lunch 11- 3, and dinner 5-9.
• A "Ragtime Cafe" will be located near the festival venues and will feature ready-made hot and cold items for cash sale.
• A variety of restaurants is nearby, including several in the Arden Fair Mall adjacent to the hotel.

RV Parking Parking for recreational vehicles are available within the vicinity of the Clarion Inn & Conference Center Arden Village. Below are some of the available options which were available for the 2013 Festival. 

Clarion Inn & Conference Center Arden Village: On site dry DAY PARKING ONLY  for RV's is available at the east end of the parking lot. The fee is $25 for the Festival (fee is unconfirmed - check with hotel). You must register with the hotel (916) 922-8041 (local), .(800) 733-5466 toll free.

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 $20 for a 30 amp hookup and $22 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/rv_park.asp

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.

Travel To The Festival

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

By Car: The festival site (Clarion Inn & Conference Center Arden Village) 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 Clarion Inn & Conference Center Arden Village is located on the north side of Arden Way next to the Arden Fair Shopping Mall. Click here for driving instructions.

Official Travel Agency: Woodland Travel is the official festival travel agency. Steve & Lydia Venable, owners.
524 Main Street Woodland, CA 95695-3446; (530) 662-5491. 

Venues The six performance venues and a general layout of the hotel are shown in the Venue Map below. The various venues are described to the below. Click on the map to open a larger, printable version..

The Martinique Room is the largest venue of the festival, seats approximately 400. Headline performances and special concerts are presented in this venue. Equipped with two grand pianos. Dance floor is 40 by 24 feet.

The Yosemite Room is another fine venue for featured players & groups .Equipped with one grand piano (Disklavier) or one upright piano. Seats approximately 100.

The Sierra Room is another fine venue for featured players. Equipped with two small grand pianos. Seats approximately 180.

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. Equipped with two upright pianos. Seats approximately 80.

The Camellia Room is another large concert venue for music and special events.  Seminars will be presented Saturday and Sunday in this venue. Equipped with two pianos. Seats approximately 200.

The J.B.'s Lounge Seating at tables and individual chairs for approximately 250 people. Dance floor in front of the stage. Dancing permitted in this venue. Equipped with two pianos. This is the venue for Dancing Instruction and After Hours.

Comstock 1 & 2 – Ragtime Store During the Festival the Ragtime Store is open in the Comstock 1 & 2 Rooms. This is where you can purchase the recordings and music folios of the Festival performers. For a complete listing of vendor and store hours, click here.

Annual Meeting  The Annual Meeting of the Ragtime Society will be held on Sunday, November 24, 2013 at 8:30 AM in the Yosemite Room. There will be an election of individual 2013 Directorships. Voting is by WCRS members only.
Back to top

Dance Instruction Dance instruction is held on all three days of the Festival in J.B.'s Lounge
Click here for Dance Instruction Schedule.

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 J.B.'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 Stores Visit the Ragtime Stores in Comstock 1 & 2 for all your ragtime music and apparel needs.  Performers’ recordings, folios, vintage clothing and more are available. 
Click here for a complete listing of vendors and store hours.

Post-Festival Party and Dinner  A perfect way to wind-down with friends and performers is the post-festival party and dinner beginning 5:30 PM Sunday in the Coffee Garden Restaurant. Click here for more information.

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 postal mail, click here for the address on the Contact Us page.