What to do at the Genoa Cowboy Festival

Lawmen - Jay Aldrich

Carson Valley's annual Genoa Cowboy Festival blends star studded entertainment and Western cowboy heritage with our beautiful mountain and valley setting. Extending over three days, the Genoa Cowboy Festival gives you the chance to step back in time, unplug, experience the old west and relax!


Nestled at the base of the Sierra Nevada in the beautiful Carson Valley, historic Genoa is the site of the Nevada’s first settlement. To this day there are working cattle ranches mere steps from the town center. Since the 19th century, cowboys have shared their work, music and stories in Nevada’s oldest town.

Borges Carriage Ride

Stroll the historic Genoa streets while enjoying the festival. All activities (with the exception of bus tours) are located within a few blocks.

Genoa or Bust!

Planning Your Genoa Cowboy Festival Trip


Celebrate the unique forms of Cowboy Music, Cowboy Poetry, Old West history, and the Western lifestyle by planning your Carson Valley trip in advance.

Nightly concerts feature up and coming acts, as well as legendary Western artists.

During the day you’ll find educational classes like dutch oven cooking and harmonica lessons. Chautauqua performers with inspiring first person stories, will introduce you to well known historic figures from bygone eras. Check out craft vendors and artisan booths throughout town and take home a piece of Western culture.  

Cowboy cooking

In addition to food vendors, there are always great restaurants in Genoa to tempt your palate. You can’t miss the chance to have a drink at the Genoa Bar and Saloon, Nevada’s oldest thirst parlor.  

Genoa Bar - Paige Turnipseed

Buy your tickets here, and be sure to make your room reservations before it's too late!

Topaz Lodge 2017 Fishing Derby

The annual Topaz Lodge Fishing Derby kicks off on January 1, 2017, and runs through April 16, 2017. Where else can you spend the day relaxing on the lake and win cash and free slot play?

When you catch any trout weighing in at 2 pounds or more, you get $5 in free slot play and 5 entries into the drawing.

Any Topaz Lodge tagged trout caught during the derby gets you $100 cash, $10 in free slot play, and 5 entries into the end of season drawing.

There will be two weekly drawing winners as well. One person will receive $25 in cash, and another gets $25 in free play.

The end of season drawing for fishing gear and $1,250 in cash will be held on April 16, at 7pm! 

To be eligible, each fish must be taken to the General Store between 8am-6pm daily to be weighed in and verified. Complete rules are available at the General Store, at TopazLodge.com, or by calling 775-266-3338.

Keri Capps started her year with a big catch!

Topaz Lake Fishing Excursion

 

Topaz Lake fishing season is coming up fast, and January 1st kicks off the Topaz Lodge Fishing Derby as well. Skip the confusion and use this fishing excursion itinerary to pick up a few pointers on your casting, get expert tips, and perfect your fish story over a hearty meal.

To get the fish while they are biting you might want to hit the road early, but a 7:30am start is not required.

7:30am - 12:30pm
THE ANGLER’S EDGE
 

Established in 1994, The Angler's Edge proudly services the 

local and visiting fly fishers of the Eastern Sierra.

~ 7:30am ~

BREAKFAST AT LAKEVIEW COFFEE SHOP

Fill up for your fishing tour at Topaz Lodge.


~ 8:30am – 12:30pm ~
TOPAZ LAKE FLY FISHING GUIDED TRIP

The Angler’s Edge guided trips in California and Nevada are geared to your particular needs and experience level. Guides have an intimate knowledge of fishing on Topaz Lake. Fishing tips, conservation education,
and emphasis on catching your trophy fish included!


 1:00pm – 2:00pm ~
LUNCH AND FISH STORIES

Head back to Gardnerville for lunch at El Aguila Real,
to get your fish story straight.

 

*Itineraries are provided as samples and are subject to availability and seasonal considerations. Service provider conditions and rates apply. Tour includes education about conservation and wildlife management.

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The Corley Ranch Harvest Festival

Pumpkins! ©Ali Moffitt

©Ali Moffitt

Pig Race

I found it.....The Perfect Pumpkin!

The Corley Ranch Harvest Festival begins every year starting October 1st and runs through October 31st.  Bring the whole family for fun fall activities including: 

Hay Slide

 Kiddie Land Straw Maze 

Farm Animals

Miniature Golf (Brand New Rebuilt) 

Bounce House

Pig Races

Hay Wagon Rides (Every Half Hour)

Haunted Corn Maze 

Huck & Chuck 101 Trampoline Show

There will also be food, crafters and other vendors on site.  The Pumpkin Sales & Country Store is open 7 days a week from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.  Admission to the Corley Ranch M-F is free.  Bring your little ghosts & goblins and join in the fun!

Genoa Candy Dance Arts & Crafts Faire

©Ali Moffitt 

A view of Job's Peak ©Ali Moffitt 

©Ali Moffitt 

oodles of Arts & Crafts ©Ali Moffitt 

AHHH...Candy! ©Ali Moffitt 

©Ali Moffitt 

The Genoa "Candy Dance" originated in 1919 as an effort to raise money to purchase street lights for the small, but enterprising community of Genoa, Nevada's first settlement. Lillian Virgin Finnegan, daughter of then prominent Judge Daniel Webster Virgin, suggested the idea of a dance and making candy to pass around during the dance as an incentive for a good "turn-out" of couples.

With the help of her aunt, Jane Raycraft Campbell, and the female populous of Genoa, delicious samples of candy really made the evening special. Of course, the midnight supper served at the Raycraft Hotel was, as always, a culinary delight. So, if the candy did not entice people to join in the fun, the midnight supper was surely an incentive.

The Genoa community did raise the needed funds for streetlights, but realized the monthly electric bill had to be paid. The candy makers were then called upon each year to help promote the "Candy Dance" and pay a year's worth of electricity for the streetlights throughout the town. This annual event became the "Big Event of the Season." Couples came from Reno, Carson City, Minden, Gardnerville and surrounding areas to join in the evening's fun.

The Arts & Crafts Faire was added in the 1970s, and later became a two-day event. The first Faire was held on the front lawn of a private residence in Sierra Shadows on Genoa Lane with twelve vendors. A few years later the popular Faire was moved to the Mormon Station Historic State Monument grounds. Expanding proved necessary and now Faire exhibitors are also found along Nixon Street, and along the sides of Genoa Lane and Main Street. With all the people visiting the Faire these days, the streets in and out of Genoa are temporarily closed during the day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Shuttles bring people from the main parking lots on Genoa Lane and Foothill Road, as well as the limited parking lot at the Genoa Cemetery.

The "Candy Dance" is still held each year with music from a live band playing everything from rock-n-roll, country-western, swing and hop to waltzes for all ages. Everyone is invited to the Saturday night dinner and dance. A limited number of tickets are sold to the event. 2009's dinner-dance in Genoa Park was a huge success with over 700 tickets sold.

Generation after generation has continued the candy making and Faire tradition. The funds raised by the Town of Genoa during the Candy Dance weekend provide a substantial portion of the town's annual budget. We will be celebrating the "Candy Dance" as long as we have volunteers to keep it going, and we thank all our volunteers for their hard work.

We are looking forward to this year's Candy Dance on Saturday and Sunday, September 24th and 25th from 9am - 5pm.
The Dinner & Dance will be on Saturday from 4:30pm - 10pm. All tickets may be purchased at the Genoa Town Offices or by phone 775-782-8696, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner and Dance Only tickets will also be available at the at the entrance, if room allows.
ALL TICKETS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

Sealed With A Kiss......Your Special Day in Carson Valley!

©Stephanie Secrest-Jacobs Family Berry Farm

©Belinda Grant Photography

©Belinda Grant Photography

Planning a wedding?  Have you dreamed about have a wedding with a picturesque mountain view as your backdrop? Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park.  Maybe you would prefer a down home wedding in the county in a barn?  Have you ever considered getting married at a Berry Farm? Jacobs Family Berry Farm. Or maybe you'd prefer 1862 David Walley's Hot Springs & Resort.  If any of this sounds like a dream come true for your perfect day, then you have come to the right place.  Carson Valley offers accessible, easy to find venues for a day filled with memories that you and your guests will cherish for a lifetime. Carson Valley offers such a variety of venues that it will be hard to narrow down and choose.  Need a professional photographer, caterer, flowers or music?  We have that covered for you too!  Come, Stay and Plan your special day in the Carson Valley.   Visit Carson Valley

Summer Fun in the Carson Valley

Carson Valley is just 20 minutes from Lake Tahoe where the night skies are lit up by stars rather than neon.  On the warm, summer evenings you can enjoy a plethora of family fun activities.  Starting in May through August, the GE Family Concert Series takes place in the gazebo at Minden Park.  Unwind with your family and friends with your favorite food on a picnic blanket and enjoy the live entertainment.  Watch as the sun goes down to music that fills the air with fun, laughter and memories that you will create to last your summer.  Come. Stay and Play in the Carson Valley!
All concerts start at 6:30pm except Foreigner Unauthorized on August 26th, starts at 6pm.

*May 27-  Paperback Writer (The Beatles Experience)
*June 17- Nathan Owens Motown & Soul Review
*July 15- Jelly Bread
*August 5- Catch A Wave (A Tribute to the Beach Boys)
*August 26- Foreigner Unauthorized (A Salute To Foreigner)