Lodi Locals
Good morning, Lodi. This month the Best of Lodi winners get announced, the Beer Fest and State BBQ Championship rolls in, and the live music list is updated and reads like a full summer already. If you are trying to pick your spots, here are a few good ones:
Gallery walls filling up for the Spring Art Show at Durst and Herme McGraw’s feature
Live music at Jessie’s Grove, Bokisch, and Five Windows
A library fundraiser that makes supporting books feel like a party
Love Lodi Day stacking dozens of volunteer projects in one morning
Let's get into it.
— Hunter
🎨Art & Culture
If you've been looking for a reason to get out of the house this month, the local art scene is giving you a few good ones. We've got a free street festival, an open mic, a gallery show, and a juried exhibit out at a winery all happening around Lodi. Go see something. Go hear something. You might be surprised.
Lodi Art Hop — April Edition | Saturday, April 11 | All day
Once a month downtown just opens up. Artists set up, people wander, nobody's trying too hard. You can grab coffee, watch someone buy a painting, let your kid make something at a table outside. It's free and it moves at whatever pace you want.
📍 Lodi Community Art Center, 110 W Pine St, Lodi, CA 95240
Featured Artist Herme McGraw at Lodi Community Art Center | Saturday, April 11 | 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm (show runs April 3–26)
Herme McGraw has a piece in this show called "Flowers with Lavender" and it's the kind of title that makes you want to see what she meant by it. The opening reception is Saturday from 1:30 to 3:30. Free to attend. Work is for sale if something catches you.
📍 Lodi Community Art Center, 110 W Pine St, Lodi, CA 95240
Open Mic at the Square | Thursday, April 17 | 7:00 pm
Five minutes. That's all anyone gets. Poets, musicians, comedians, whoever. The Charlene Powers Lange Theatre at Hutchins Street Square opens the stage Thursday night and the only rule is you show up. Come to perform or just come to sit in a room with people who are trying something.
Want to perform? Send an email to [email protected] with your name, phone number, and what kind of act you do.
📍 Hutchins Street Square, 125 S Hutchins St, Lodi, CA 95240
64th Annual Spring Art Show | Saturday–Sunday, April 18–19 | 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
A juried art show at a winery is a pretty good use of a Sunday afternoon. The Art Center takes over Durst Winery for two days. Open noon to 4:00 pm both days. Awards go out Sunday at 3:00. The kind of thing you show up to not expecting much and end up staying.
📍 Durst Winery, 10173 Acampo Rd, Acampo, CA 95220
Events
Sunset Sippin' with Darbytown | Friday, April 10 | 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Bokisch does this on Friday nights in the spring and it's a good thing to know about. Darbytown is playing, admission is free, and the Maiz Taco Truck will be there. Doors at 5:30. Seating is first come first served but if you want a firepit it's $40 for up to six people, or $80 for the gazebo up to ten. Wine Club members get half off reserved spots. Worth locking something down before Thursday.
📍 Bokisch Vineyards, 18921 Atkins Rd, Lodi, CA 95240
Friends of Lodi Lake: Second Saturdays | Saturday, April 11 | 10:00 am to 11:30 am
Every second Saturday the Friends of Lodi Lake put something together out at the lake. Free, family friendly, no registration. Just show up. Some people forget we have a lake this close. This is a good reminder.
📍 Lodi Lake, 1101 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA 95242
Second Saturday Coffee Run: Earth Day Edition | Saturday, April 11 | 8:30 am to 11:00 am
Fleet Feet and Culebra Coffee do a morning run together once a month and this one has an Earth Day angle. Bring old running shoes to donate and you get discounted coffee or matcha and a $5 off coupon for Fleet Feet. Free, all ages, doors at 8:20. The kind of Saturday morning that makes the rest of the day feel earned.
📍 Culebra Coffee, 1110 W Kettleman Ln, Lodi, CA 95240
Books, Bubbles & Brew | Thursday, April 16 | 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
The Lodi Public Library Foundation does this once a year and it's genuinely a full evening. Sparkling wine, local craft beer, small bites, live music, a raffle, and a short talk from new Library Director Jenni Fontanilla about where the library is headed. Proceeds go back into expanding programs. Doors at 5:45, 21+, free parking. It tends to sell out so grab a ticket before it does.
📍 Lodi Public Library, 201 W Locust St, Lodi, CA 95240
🏡 Family & Kids Corner
Parents, if your kid is into sports, here are some dates you'll want to circle before summer sneaks up on you.
Register Now — Spots Are Filling:
🏊 Swim Lessons — April session is live now. May session open too. Tuesdays and Thursdays at Hutchins Street Square Pool, ages 4+, $75 for 8 classes. Scholarships available through the Brian M. Stocker Fund.
🏕️ Summer Safari Camp — Capped at 65 kids per week. June 1 through July 23 at Hutchins Street Square, ages 4–12, $245/week. Book now.
⚾ Lodi Jr. Giants — Free baseball, softball, and T-ball for ages 5–13. Special Olympics division included. Season starts June 8. Register through July 31 on the website.
🏈 Lodi Colts Football & Cheer — Sign-ups are underway! Upcoming registration dates are April 19 & 26 and May 3, 17 & 31 at Salas Park, 2101 S Stockton St, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Football is open to ages 6–14, cheer ages 5–14.
🎾 Tennis at Kofu Park — April session running Wednesdays through April 29. May session open now, ages 5–14, $89.
Coming Up — Mark Your Calendar
⚽ Upward Sports Soccer — Registration opens April 15, deadline June 6. Evaluations May 16, May 30, and June 6.
⚽ EV Soccer League — U6–U18 Sun League, season May through July. Contact your coach before registering.
⚽ BOBS Recreational Soccer — Ages 6–15, fall program. The registration window opens in April. Watch lodibobs.net for the exact date.
🏕️ Skyhawks Soccer + Basketball Camps — Soccer camp June 15–19, basketball June 29–July 3. Both at Hutchins Street Square, $177, ages 5–14.
Questions about City of Lodi programs? Call Parks & Rec at (209) 333-6742 or email [email protected].
✨Community Spotlight
Love Lodi Is the Real Deal
It started in 2014 with a Salvation Army captain named Martin Ross and about 100 people who showed up to do something useful. That was it. No big infrastructure, no city budget. Just people who thought their town was worth a Saturday.
It kept growing. By 2024, more than 1,000 volunteers came out to work on 60 projects across the city. Over 11 years that's somewhere north of 7,500 people and more than a million dollars worth of free labor put back into Lodi. The City Council eventually made it official and named the last Saturday in April Love Lodi Day. That part kind of says everything.
Timothy and Tara Stewart have been running it since 2023. Timothy pastors Vintage Church on the east side of town. Their take on it is pretty straightforward: be in the city, for the city. They've pulled in people from nonprofits, local government, businesses, and faith groups, all working on the same thing. It's not complicated. It just takes people willing to show up.
And it's not just one day anymore. They've given away 3,000 backpacks to Lodi Unified students two years running. They've adopted local schools that needed extra attention through a Love Our Schools program. The single Saturday turned into something that runs year round without making a lot of noise about it.
This year is April 25. Volunteer rally at Hutchins Street Square at 8:00 am, then work crews spread out across the city at 9:00. Lodi Lake, Vinewood Elementary, Nichols Elementary, the Central Avenue neighborhood, the K-9 grounds at the police department. Thirty two confirmed projects so far with more coming. Everything wraps by noon and there's a free community picnic and nonprofit fair with live music after.
If you want in, head to lovelodi.org and find a project before the 25th.
📍 Hutchins Street Square, 125 S Hutchins St, Lodi, CA 95240
🎶 LIVE MUSIC | APRIL 2026
FRI - APR 10 Working Class Band (80s Rock)
📍 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6–9 PM
FRI - APR 10 Overdryve (Live Music)
📍 9 W Locust St, Lodi, CA - 🕖 7–10 PM
FRI - APR 10 Darby Town – Sunset Sippin' (Live Music)
📍 18921 Atkins Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6–9 PM - Free Admission
SAT - APR 11 Rob Stevenson (Acoustic Rock)
📍 21 N School St, Lodi, CA - 🕠 5:30 PM
SAT - APR 11 Kool Shifters (Multi-Genre)
📍 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕔 5–8 PM
SAT - APR 11 Saving Seattle (90s/2000s Grunge & Alt Rock)
📍 9 W Locust St, Lodi, CA - 🕖 7–10 PM
SUN - APR 12 William Smith Jr. (Acoustic/Covers)
📍 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕐 1–4 PM
THU - APR 16 B&C Music – Thursday Night Music (Live Music)
📍 23627 N DeVries Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕔 5–8 PM - Free Admission
THU - APR 16 Dustin Heer – Thursday Night Music (Live Music)
📍 23627 N DeVries Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕔 5–8 PM - Free Admission
FRI - APR 17 Georgetowne Band (Rock/Country)
📍 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6–9 PM
FRI - APR 17 CAMO CALI (Live Music)
📍 9 W Locust St, Lodi, CA - 🕖 7–10 PM - Ticketed
FRI - APR 17 Country Dance Night – DWR Crew (Country)
📍 100 S Sacramento St, Lodi, CA - 🕖 7–9 PM - Free
FRI - APR 17 Open Mic at the Square
📍 125 S Hutchins St, Lodi, CA - 🕖 7 PM
FRI - APR 17 Billy Sconce – Sunset Sippin' (Rock & Roll)
📍 18921 Atkins Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6–9 PM - Free Admission
SAT - APR 18 The Jebby Trio (Jazz/Blues)
📍 21 N School St, Lodi, CA - 🕠 5:30 PM
SAT - APR 18 Summit Band (Classic Rock)
📍 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕔 5–8 PM
SAT - APR 18 Line Dancing (Country)
📍 9 W Locust St, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6–10 PM - $5
SAT - APR 18 Don Gato & Band – Summer Music Series (Pop/Rock)
📍 Nostra Vita Family Winery, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6–10 PM - Ticketed
SUN - APR 19 William Sconce (Acoustic/Singer-Songwriter)
📍 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕐 1–4 PM
SUN - APR 19 Mystic Vinyl – Sunday Music Live (Acoustic Rock)
📍 340 W Hwy 12, Lodi, CA - 🕐 1–4 PM - $5 non-members
SUN - APR 19 Tierra Cali + Humberto Plancarte (Regional Mexican)
📍 100 N Cherokee Ln, Lodi, CA - 🕗 8 PM - 21+ / Ticketed
THU - APR 23 Dave Atencio – Thursday Night Music (Live Music)
📍 23627 N DeVries Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕔 5–8 PM - Free Admission
FRI - APR 24 Mikara & Brandon Cline – After Hours (Upbeat/Dance)
📍 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6–9 PM
FRI - APR 24 Cradle III – Sunset Sippin' (Live Music)
📍 18921 Atkins Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6–9 PM - Free Admission
SAT - APR 25 Tribal Seeds + Dub Souljah + Amp Melo (Reggae/Hip-Hop)
📍 9 W Locust St, Lodi, CA - 🕟 4:30–11 PM - All Ages / Ticketed
SAT - APR 25 Silverback (High-Energy/Dance)
📍 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6–9 PM
SAT - APR 25 Overdryve – Stama Sip & Sounds (Rock/Covers)
📍 17521 N Davis Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕔 5–8 PM - Free
SAT - APR 25 The Sun Followers – Bokisch Spring Wine Club Party
📍 18921 Atkins Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕛 12 PM - Wine Club Event
SUN - APR 26 Wealth of Nations Trio (Rock/Feel-Good Covers)
📍 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕐 1–4 PM
SUN - APR 26 The Retrofitz – Sunday Music Live (Classic Rock)
📍 340 W Hwy 12, Lodi, CA - 🕐 1–4 PM - $5 non-members
WED - APR 29 Wine Down w/ Wilson & Friends
📍 18273 N Lower Sacramento Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕕 6 PM
THU - APR 30 Payton Mahoney – Thursday Night Music (Live Music)
📍 23627 N DeVries Rd, Lodi, CA - 🕔 5–8 PM - Free Admission
Thanks for reading! It means more than you know that you take a few minutes out of your day to stay connected with our little corner of the world. See you around Lodi! 🍇
