Loomis's Fall Calendar Lives Inside Two Old Fruit Sheds

Look at what's scheduled in Loomis between now and mid-December and nearly all of it leads back to two buildings on Taylor Road, about a half mile apart. Both were built to pack fruit. One went up in 1926 and the other in 1945. On weekend evenings this fall, one of them will host a band, a fundraiser dinner, or a market on almost every Friday and Saturday through mid-December.

That's why the 2024 name change matters. The Eggplant Festival ran for 36 years before it became the Loomis Fruit Shed Festival. The new name honors packing sheds that date to the early 1900s, where generations of Loomis Basin families packed peaches, plums, pears, oranges and other "mountain grown" fruit that was shipped worldwide. The orchards no longer run the town's economy, but the sheds are still where the town gets together.

Saturday, October 3, starts at the depot

The festival itself happens outside both sheds, at the Historic Train Depot at 5775 Horseshoe Bar Road, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday. The Loomis Basin Chamber of Commerce hosts it, as it has since 1987. Amanda Standley, the Chamber's director, told Gold Mountain California News there will be more than 80 vendors, and that the Children's Entrepreneur Market is back for young local sellers.

McLaughlin Studios organized the Main Stage lineup. The morning is mostly student and community performers, and the afternoon belongs to one band.

Away from the stage there's a beer and wine garden, and the Kids Zone has inflatables, face painting and crafts. The Baking Contest and Chalk Art Contest are back, and you can still sign up the morning of the festival until 10:30 a.m. The baking category is called Anything Apple. Emily Wallum won it in 2025.

Parking shows how the day spreads up and down the town:

1. The main lot is the WW Moulding property at 3800 Taylor Road.
2. Overflow parking is at 3664 Magnolia Street.
3. A free shuttle runs through town all day.

For years the festival took place in one spot. The shuttle and the second venue described below now spread it along Taylor Road.

The new piece is inside Blue Goose

This is the first year the festival reaches into one of the sheds it's named for. An Apple Dayz market is running inside the Blue Goose shed at 3550 Taylor Road, and the Sacramento Bee's festival preview calls it a new addition for 2026. Three tenants of the building are hosting it: Blue Goose Produce, Gander Taphouse, and the local artist who owns Mandala Candles. Standley said the market will focus on local agriculture, arts and crafts.

Apple Dayz runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free to enter. Dyllon Gage plays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and Jessica Malone plays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Gander is offering livestock and agriculture activities along with beer, cider and food, and Blue Goose Produce will be open.

The building's history explains why it can host something like this. Blue Goose opened in 1945 as a fruit packing and shipping plant and stopped packing in 2001. It was renovated with donated materials, donated labor and volunteer help, and the nonprofit South Placer Heritage Foundation now operates it as an event center. So the room the festival borrows this Saturday is owned by a community nonprofit. It isn't a private venue the Chamber rents.

Blue Goose's tenants keep it open between events

The event center is booked for specific dates, but the rest of the building stays open on a regular schedule. Blue Goose Produce is open year-round, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It sells local fruit, vegetables and nuts, plus eggs, honey, jams, sauces, olive oil, bread, cheese and grass-fed meats. That keeps the shed in the produce business, at retail scale.

Gander Taphouse, inside the same complex, is open Wednesday from 4 to 10 p.m., Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. It has 30 rotating taps and outdoor dining, and it lists live music every Friday and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Gander has also added the Annex, an attached 900-square-foot private event room for up to 50 people, with catering and drinks available. Groups too small for the full event center now have a room in the same building.

The Blue Goose Event Center calendar for October shows how often the building is booked:

• Oct. 3: Fall Makers Market–Apple Dayz
• Oct. 4: Recharge the Soul
• Oct. 8: Back the Badge BBQ
• Oct. 9: Aces Baseball Dinner
• Oct. 16: RRUFF
• Oct. 18: Lucky Find Market
• Oct. 23: Descor Round-up
• Oct. 24: Black Cat Blast
• Oct. 25: Whitney Boys Basketball Dinner

That's nine bookings in one month, and several of them are fundraisers for local teams and groups. The Aces Baseball Club's first Tri Tip Dinner runs Friday, Oct. 9, from 5 to 11 p.m. On Saturday, Nov. 7, Soroptimist International of Loomis Basin brings its Fiesta Bingo to the same building. Doors open at 5 p.m. and play starts at 6. Tickets are $45 and include dinner and one bingo pack.

High-Hand is booked even more heavily

A few blocks away, the High Hand shed was built in 1926 as the central packing plant for the Loomis Fruit Growers Association, which incorporated in 1901. High-Hand's own history says up to 100 workers were employed there at harvest during the shed's busiest years, and their names are still visible where they wrote them on the posts and rafters.

Here's what's under those rafters now, with current hours:

The brewery runs the busiest stage in town. Its October calendar has 14 dated shows plus a Wednesday Jam Nite every week. Friday and Saturday shows usually run 6 to 9 p.m., and Sunday shows run 2 to 5 p.m. The venue lists its "On Stage" concerts as 18+.

Festival weekend at High-Hand opens Friday, Oct. 2, with Ride Captain Ride. Manzanita plays Saturday evening after the depot closes, and Wildheart plays Sunday afternoon. Later in the month come Heartless Benatar on Oct. 10, Darth Mozart on Oct. 16, Petty Jack Flash on Oct. 17 and Journey's Edge on Oct. 24. The month ends with a Halloween Bash on Oct. 31 featuring Nena Inferna and Unleashed, with a costume contest and no cover.

The schedule stays full into winter. November has The Bad Boyfriend Band on Nov. 6, Def Lepp on Nov. 14, The Used Cars on Nov. 20 and That 70's Band on Nov. 21, along with Sunday afternoon sets from Renegade Road, Nothin' Personal and Diva ROX. In December, 8 Track Massacre plays Dec. 5, Donnie & The Wayrads plays the afternoon of Dec. 6, Total Recall plays Dec. 11 and Rogue plays Dec. 12. Jam Nite continues every Wednesday through Dec. 30.

What the two calendars look like together

Take one weekend as an example. On Friday, Oct. 9, the Aces Tri Tip Dinner fills Blue Goose while 8 Track Massacre plays at High-Hand. On Saturday, Oct. 24, Black Cat Blast is at Blue Goose and Journey's Edge is at High-Hand. A packing town once spread its harvest across two sheds on one road. Its fall schedule now works much the same way, with Blue Goose running dinners and markets for local groups and High-Hand running live music.

High-Hand's posted calendar doesn't yet show any 2026 dates for nursery holiday events, such as the tree lighting it held in past Novembers. If you're waiting for those, keep an eye on its events page. Blue Goose's November and December schedule beyond the Soroptimist bingo night wasn't posted when we checked either.

If you have family or friends visiting this weekend, here's a simple plan. Park at 3800 Taylor Road and take the shuttle to the depot for the morning. Walk through Apple Dayz inside Blue Goose in the afternoon, then end the day at High-Hand for Manzanita at 6. That covers both sheds, plus the festival named after them, in a single Saturday.

At Sarah Stone-Francisco, we love seeing this town history in use every week. If you're a Loomis homeowner wondering how your place fits into the town around Taylor Road, or you'd just like to talk about what's changing near the old sheds, we're happy to talk it over. Let's Connect.