Veronica Lake and her wife Jennifer Victoria watch a performance at the Rainbow Festival in Sacramento’s Lavender Heights neighborhood on Sept. 6. The event took advantage of one of the city’s “entertainment zones,” where alcohol can be sold in to-go containers.
ZIYU JULIAN ZHU
julian.zhu@sacbee.com
Sacramento is riding on the success of this summer’s outdoor events adding six new “entertainment zones” around the city that can host events with public drinking.
During special events in the city’s five existing entertainment zones, local businesses can sell alcohol in to-go containers that attendees can walk and sip. The city is seeing success with both business owners and local fun-seekers, according to its Nighttime Economy Manager Tina Lee Vogt.
Sacramento’s most recent large event to take advantage of an entertainment zone was the Rainbow Festival along 20th and K, which saw 3,000 attendees this year. In the two years the city has allowed drinking on the go at the annual event, participating local businesses have reported increased sales.
Sacramento bar and nightclub owner Bob Simpson spoke to the success two of his businesses have seen at a weekly event in Ali Youssefi Square called Campground, a more casual weekend affair where guests can eat, drink and play games in front of Beach Front Deli. Simpson said that his sales increased 30% during the events and that there haven’t been public safety concerns during the events.
“It’s a great example of businesses working together and enhancing a vibrant neighborhood,” he said.
In the year since the launch of the program, the city’s entertainment zones were located in downtown and midtown Sacramento. But three of the six new zones approved at city council Tuesday are located outside of central Sacramento: one in Oak Park and two on Broadway.
Where are the special zones allowing to-go alcohol sales?
These are the six new locations:
9th and I Street entertainment zone: 9th to 10th streets, I to J streets14th and Broadway entertainment zone: 9th to 19th streets, X Street to Burnett Way24th and Broadway entertainment zone: 20th to 28th streets, X Street to 1st Avenue24th and K Street entertainment zone: 23rd to 25th streets, Jazz to Kayak alleysArena entertainment zone: 3rd to 7th streets, J to L streetsOak Park triangle entertainment zone: 34th to 36th streets, 2nd to 4th avenues
These locations were established in 2025:
20th and K Street entertainment zone: 20th and K streetsThe Ali Youssefi Square entertainment zone: The square and adjacent area including K Street between 7th and 8th streetsThe Convention Center entertainment zone: Area surrounding the SAFE Credit Union Convention and Performing Arts Center17th and R Street entertainment zone: 16th to 18th streets, Quill Alley to S StreetHandle District entertainment zone: 18th, 19th, Capitol and L streets
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The Sacramento Bee
Jennah Pendleton covers the city of Sacramento for The Sacramento Bee. She previously reported on local schools. Before joining The Bee, she wrote about education and culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. She grew up in Orange County and is a graduate of the University of Oregon.