Fresno, CA is the Central Valley’s largest city, and, although agriculture is king in and around Fresno as well as the entire San Joaquin Valley, the city is also home to great local craft breweries, vineyards for tasting wonderful local wines, and great restaurants offering a plethora of different foods.
Fresno’s Tower District is one of the most vibrant places in the city with everything from arts and entertainment to dining and clubs, featuring local musicians and singers. Fresno is a great place for live music. From local to big name bands and solo artists, live music in Fresno, CA has it all. The city has a thriving jazz scene, as well as rock, country, salsa, metal, punk, and alternative rock.
Weeknights or weekends, you can always find some place to go in Fresno if you want to enjoy some live music.
Where to go
There are lots of great places in and around Fresno where you can enjoy an evening or even an afternoon of live music. The Starline is one of the most popular live music venues, especially with the city’s younger crowd, due to the 18 and up age restriction. The club hosts popular Salsa nights on Thursdays, with free salsa lessons and dancing all night long.
Engelmann Cellars, a small boutique winery, hosts live music every Friday from May to September in their 1.5 acres Vineyard Park. Events are for adults 21 and over and guests need to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets and wine glass. There are usually a few food trucks at the event, offering food to complement the wines.
The Tasting Room is the Central Valley’s best venue to enjoy live jazz every Friday night, from 7-10, no cover or reservations needed, as well as live music most Saturday nights. With lots of comfortable couches and big chairs to sit on, The Tasting Room is the perfect choice for date night or to enjoy wine or a craft beer with friends with lots of comfortable couches and big chairs
Eureka, opened in 2010, offers customers a great selection of craft beer, small-batch whiskey, regional wines, and live music featuring the singer songwriter of the week. The locals love the food, the drink, and listening to a fantastic band.
And, finally, there’s the ApCal, one of the best outdoor live music venues in the Valley. It’s a great place to relax, listen to live music, dance, drink, visit with old and new friends, and party. With limited seating available, you’ll want to bring a lawn chair or blanket.
Pick your next show
Whether you’re in the mood to see a rock band, listen to some mellow jazz, or learn to salsa dance, the Fresno music scene has it.
And, don’t forget country music from the Central Valley — the Bakersfield Sound, patented by Buck Owen and Merle Haggard. You can find live country music at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace a little farther south in Bakersfield.
The Central Valley music scene is just another reason why we love the Central Valley.