Happy Tuesday, Walnut Creek!

💡 Did you know: Electrification arrived in the town in 1910 and paved roads followed that development. From this date, the town boomed with theaters and parks quickly springing up.

In today’s edition:

Let’s get to it.

— Sean Casey

Broadway Plaza is turning into an open-air marketplace again this Saturday, and it’s one of the easier ways to spend a spring afternoon in Walnut Creek.

Makers Market is bringing together 100+ local makers and artists for a full day of live music, shopping, food, and wandering downtown with an iced coffee in hand. Expect handmade jewelry, candles, glassware, home goods, organic body products, local honey, apparel, and plenty of modern, California-style small brands you’ll probably end up bookmarking later.

The setup stretches between Nordstrom and Macy’s, so it naturally spills into lunch plans, patio drinks, and downtown browsing afterward. It’s very family-friendly, dog-friendly, and low-pressure.

There’s just something about Makers Market weekends that makes downtown Walnut Creek feel especially alive.

📍 Where: Broadway Plaza
📅 When: Saturday, May 23 • 11 AM – 5 PM
💲 Price: Free

Event Details

Contra Costa Ballet is bringing Alice in Wonderland to Walnut Creek this weekend with a family-friendly, hour-long adaptation of the classic story.

The production features youth dancers and professional guest artists, plus Victorian-inspired costumes, dramatic sets, and an original score by Daniel Berkman. It’s whimsical, visually fun, and easy for kids to follow without feeling overly long.

📍 Where: Lesher Center for the Arts
📅 When: Friday, May 22 – Saturday, May 23
💲 Price: Ticketed • Prices vary

Get Tickets

Walnut Creek’s annual Memorial Day ceremony returns to Civic Park Monday morning with music, community speakers, and a quieter pace than the rest of the holiday weekend.

If you’re staying local for Memorial Day, this is one of the more meaningful ways to spend part of the morning before heading into the rest of the day.

📍 Where: Civic Park
📅 When: Monday, May 25 • 11 AM – 12 PM
💲 Price: Free

Event Details

Bedford Gallery’s current exhibition explores the work of artist Inocencio Jiménez Chino through paintings, amate works, recorded interviews, and storytelling pieces spanning more than five decades. Rooted in Indigenous culture and Nahuatl traditions, the exhibit reflects on ancestry, labor, landscape, and everyday life in Mexico’s Balsas River basin in a way that feels both intimate and deeply personal.

There’s also a special cocktails-and-conversation event this week featuring the artist alongside anthropologist Jonathan Amith at Bedford Gallery.

📍 Where: Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center
📅 When: Exhibition ongoing + special event Tuesday, May 19
💲 Price: Gallery admission varies; event tickets separate

Learn More

One of the easier free family activities this week. The Walnut Creek Library is setting up an afternoon of board games, puzzles, and video games for kids ages 5 and up. Nothing overly programmed, just a low-pressure way to get out of the house for a bit.

📍 Where: Walnut Creek Library
📅 When: Wednesday, May 20 • 4 PM – 5:30 PM
💲 Price: Free

More Info

Not technically Walnut Creek, but close enough to earn the Memorial Day weekend mention. Bay Area KidFest returns to Concord with carnival rides, live entertainment, festival food, and the kind of chaotic kid energy that somehow becomes a core memory later.

If your household needs one bigger family outing this weekend, this is probably the one.

📍 Where: Toyota Pavilion at Concord
📅 When: Sunday, May 24 – Monday, May 25 • 10 AM – 6 PM
💲 Price: Admission starts around $9 • rides separate

Event Info

Community Arts Spring Showcase

Discover the creativity and talent thriving in our community at the 2026 Community Arts Spring Showcase.

📍 Community Arts Gallery
📅 Through May 19 • 6 PM
💲 Ticketed

Veronica Swift and Her Trio

A strong date-night pick this week at the Lesher. Jazz vocalist Veronica Swift brings her trio to Walnut Creek Friday night for a more intimate live music option.

📍 Lesher Center for the Arts
📅 Friday, May 22 • 7:30 PM
💲 Ticketed

Something Rotten Jr.

A youth production of the Broadway comedy about two playwright brothers trying to outdo Shakespeare. Fun, fast-moving, and good for older kids and theater families.

📍 Lesher Center for the Arts
📅 May 22–24
💲 Ticketed

🥧 Weekly Walnut recipe: Farmers Market Pasta with Walnut Pesto — bright herbs, lemony walnut pesto, roasted vegetables, and pasta all tossed together into the kind of dinner that feels very late-May Walnut Creek.

🎵 Who we are listening to: You & I – Dabeull (feat. Holybrune). “I saw the album cover and immediately thought: this song HAS to be amazing. Was not disappointed.”

🙏 Positive news around the globe: Students are fundraising to help protect the habitat of bald eagle chicks they’ve been watching on livestream — and the internet is fully invested. Read Article

✨ Sometimes the best thing you can do is slow down and notice what’s already going right.

As always, we read every reply and truly appreciate hearing from you. If there’s something you’d like to see more of locally, let us know. Thanks for being part of the Walnut Creek Digest community.

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