If you've lived in Martinez for more than a few years, you already know the rhythm of an August weekend: farmers market on Sunday, bocce leagues down at the marina, maybe a walk out along Carquinez Scenic Drive when the fog clears. This August has a different center of gravity.
On Saturday, August 29, the city hits 150. And the way the anniversary is being staged says a lot about where downtown is heading.
One Saturday, two festivals, one waterfront
The headline is the Sesquicentennial Festival itself. The City is celebrating 150 years of Martinez at the Sesquicentennial Festival on August 29, 2026, a one-day, waterfront-wide community celebration set throughout Waterfront Park, Joe DiMaggio Field, the marina, and nearby EBRPD spaces, with music, food, activities, and cultural showcases. Hours run from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
What makes this different from the usual city event is what's happening inside it. The festival is being planned collaboratively with Downtown Martinez & Co., including a partnership with the Bay Area Craft Beer Festival to expand entertainment, activities, and fun. If you've been to the Craft Beer Festival before, you know it used to stand on its own down at the marina in April. This year, it returns August 29, 2026, reimagined at the Martinez Waterfront as part of the City of Martinez's Sesquicentennial Festival.
Practically, that means two experiences sharing one footprint. The Sesquicentennial Festival is free and open to the public for all ages, while a tasting ticket, valid ID, and wristband are required for entry into the Craft Beer Festival Experience for guests 21 and over. Inside the tasting area: 20+ craft breweries, 100+ beers to sample, home brew selections, curated food trucks, live music all day, waterfront views, and free hydration stations.
A note for anyone who's tried to park at the marina during a big event: parking at the Martinez Marina is limited, with event signage and attendants guiding attendees once you cross the railroad tracks, and organizers are strongly encouraging carpooling, rideshare, Amtrak, BART, taxi, or a designated driver. Amtrak's Capitol Corridor stop is a short walk from downtown, which is probably the underused move if you're planning to spend the day near the beer garden.
What the anniversary is actually changing downtown
The festival is one day. The interesting part for people who live here is what the sesquicentennial year is doing to the streets you walk every week.
Two initiatives worth knowing about:
- Utility Box Art Program. The Sesquicentennial Utility Box Art Project is turning everyday street corners into bursts of color, creativity, and Martinez character. If you've noticed painted boxes appearing at intersections you've passed for years without looking twice, that's why.
- Park System Master Plan Update. A comprehensive effort to re-envision Martinez's parks, open spaces, and recreation facilities, providing a roadmap to enhance existing spaces, expand opportunities, and strengthen the connection between people and their parks. The public comment windows are the moment where residents actually shape what Waterfront Park and the smaller neighborhood parks look like for the next decade.
Neither of these is a festival you show up to. Both of them are why the festival looks the way it looks.
The weekend at a glance
For the fridge:
- Aug 29, 11 AM–7 PM — Sesquicentennial Festival at Waterfront Park, Joe DiMaggio Field, and the marina. Free.
- Aug 29, 1–6 PM — Bay Area Craft Beer Festival tasting inside the same footprint. Ticketed, 21+.
- Rain or shine. Light rain will not result in cancellation.
- Proceeds. Bay Area Craft Beer Festival proceeds are reinvested into downtown design and beautification projects, community events, placemaking, and business support programs. Your tasting ticket is, functionally, a downtown grant.
The rest of August, in order
The sesquicentennial is the anchor, but it isn't the only thing on the calendar this month.
National Night Out at the Waterfront. On August 4, 2026, from 5:30 to 9 PM, residents are invited to meet neighbors and local law enforcement and first responders as part of National Night Out at the Martinez Waterfront Park. If you have kids who like fire trucks and free hot dogs, this is the low-effort weeknight outing.
Art in the Park at Susana Park. The Martinez Arts Association presents the 55th annual Art in the Park on Sunday, August 16, from 10 AM to 5 PM at Susana Park, a free, family-friendly event featuring more than 60 local artists showcasing fine art and crafts. Attendees can enjoy live music, food trucks, and beverages including wine and beer, plus a Silent Auction featuring items donated by artists and local businesses. Two logistics tips worth passing along: Susana Park is shaded with plenty of seating, and parking meters are not enforced on Sundays. That last detail is the kind of thing you only know if you live here.
Looking a couple weeks ahead. The monthly summer Downtown Car Show returns to Main Street on September 10, 6–8 PM, with street closures starting at 5. Worth pairing with dinner if you can grab a Main Street table before 5:30.
The Brother Sister gap, and how downtown is eating around it
If you've walked past 1500 Pacheco Blvd in the last two weeks, you already know the news. On Monday, Contra Costa County firefighters responded to The Brother Sister restaurant in the City of Martinez for a report of a fire. The owners posted a statement the same night: the restaurant suffered a fire, everyone is safe, and neighbors acted quickly to call the fire department, which prevented a much larger disaster, though there was significant damage from the fire, water, and additional mitigation. They said they will be closed indefinitely; no injuries were reported and the cause was not yet known.
For a restaurant that had become one of the reliable brunch anchors between downtown and the marina, that's a real absence heading into festival weekend. If you're hosting out-of-town family that Saturday and Brother Sister was your default, downtown Main Street still has options within a couple of blocks of each other: Roxx on Main for a proper dinner, Six Eleven Bar & Grill, Brix & Craft, Troy for Mediterranean, and Bella's Spot. Vic's Martinez, the original restaurant that Brother Sister was built on top of, has been a Martinez fixture for decades and is a separate operation.
The point isn't to rank them. It's that the restaurant map you've been using probably needs one substitution this month, and Main Street between Ferry and Castro is where the substitutions live.
When the crowds leave: the trail and the pier
Sunday morning after the festival is a good time to remember why people live here.
The Downtown Farmers' Market runs every Sunday year-round, 9 AM to 1 PM, right on Main Street between Ferry and Castro, rain or shine. If you've been going for years, the sesquicentennial year adds one small wrinkle worth noticing: the utility box art now gives you something to look at on the walk over.
West of downtown, the George Miller Regional Trail traces the bluff above the Carquinez Strait along the stretch of Carquinez Scenic Drive that's been closed to cars for years. It's paved, roughly a mile and a half one way, and it's the closest thing Martinez has to a signature walk. The rolling grades make it more of a workout than the flat waterfront loop most people default to.
And the Municipal Fishing Pier, the 1934 landmark that reopened in late 2025 after a long structural overhaul, is again the quietest place in town at sunrise. No license needed to fish from a public pier in California. Bring coffee.
Why this August matters, past the parties
Here's what I'd tell a neighbor who's asking whether the sesquicentennial is a big deal or just another city event:
The 150-year mark is being used as scaffolding. The Bay Area Craft Beer Festival, which used to live on its own, is now inside a city festival. Art in the Park, which has run for 55 years, sits inside the same August weekend arc. The Utility Box Art Project ties the waterfront to Main Street visually for the first time in a while. The Park System Master Plan will decide what the next decade of Waterfront Park looks like.
It's the first August in a long time where downtown, the marina, and the neighborhoods on either side of Alhambra are being programmed as one place instead of three. Whether that sticks past September is a question for next year. But if you've been feeling like Martinez has been shifting under your feet, this is the month it stops being subtle.
If you're thinking about what all of this means for your block, for your street's property, or for a move you've been quietly weighing, Holman Stone Real Estate lives and works in these neighborhoods. Reach out for a free home valuation or a conversation about what's actually changing in Martinez this year. We'd rather have the coffee than the pitch.
