Picnic in the Park returns Wednesday

Break out the picnic blankets and baskets!

Picnic in the Park returns to the Davis Farmers Market on Wednesday from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Central Park, Third and C streets in downtown Davis. The family-friendly celebration features live music by local bands from 5 p.m. to dark, an international food fair, a beer and wine garden and plenty of entertainment for the kids.

A wide array of dinner specialties will tantalize picnickers, from vendors such as El Mariachi Taqueria, Raja’s Tandoor, Kathmandu Kitchen, Thai Recipes and East West Gourmet. Other food vendors include Monticello Seasonal Cuisine, The Buckhorn, Ciocolat, Farmer’s Kitchen, Davis Creamery, Fat Face, The Hotdogger, Davis Food Co-op, Original Steve’s Pizza, Upper Crust Bakery, Davis Bread & Desserts, OctoberFeast Bakery and Kettlepop.

Dinner can be washed down with beer and wine from a booth staffed by Soroptimists of Davis. All proceeds go to the service club’s local charities.

Local bands will play everything from bluegrass to big band, rockabilly to rock ‘n’ roll, Americana to Dixieland. Music usually begins at 5 p.m. and continues until dark. Sacramento singer-songwriter Lisa Phenix and mandolin and guitar player extraordinaire, Beer Dawg Steve Walls, kick off the 34-week concert season on Wednesday with their crowd-pleasing folk and Americana music. The concerts are sponsored by the Davis Food Co-op.

Children will enjoy Central Park’s bicycle-powered carousel, Rocknasium’s climbing wall, bounce houses, face-painting, pony rides and balloon-maker Dilly Dally the Clown.

For more information, call the Davis Farmers Market office at 530-756-1695 or visit www.davisfarmersmarket.org.

At a glance

March 20: Lisa Phenix Band, folk/Americana

March 27: Anderson-Gram Duo, folk/Americana
April 3: Blue Blazes, rockabilly and blues
April 10: Guitar Mac & the Blues Express, blues
April 17: Mighty Murphys, traditional Irish
April 24: Catfish & the Crawdaddies, American roots music
May 1: Tha’ Dirt Feeling, hip-hop and rock ‘n’ roll
May 8: Sticky Vikki & the Pinecones, rockabilly
May 17: The Undulations, post-modern swing/Dixieland
May 22: The Notorious Shank Brothers, bluegrass
May 29: Davis High School and Cal Aggie Band-uh, Picnic Pops
June 5: Hardwater, pop/rock/folk/blues
June 12: Walkin’ the Dawg, rock ‘n’ roll
June 19: Frankie & the Fabletones, rock ‘n’ roll oldies
June 26: Acoustic S&M, 50 years of folk and rock
July 3: Pleasant Valley Boys, bluegrass
July 10: Over Forté, Dixieland
July 17: The Hucklebucks, blues
July 24: The 8-Tracks, classic rock
July 31: It’s About Time, big band/swing/jazz
Aug. 7: Peter Franklin Band, classic rock
Aug. 14: Jenny Lynn & Her Real Gone Daddies, bluegrass
Aug. 21: Papa Hip, rock ‘n’ roll and R&B
Aug. 28: Cold Shot, retro and modern dance music
Sept. 4: Mad Dash, rock ‘n’ roll dance music
Sept. 11: The Plainfield Pickers, Western swing/bluegrass
Sept. 18: YoloMambo, world music
Sept. 25: High Strung, bluegrass
Oct. 2: Odd Man Out, folk/’60s and ‘70s rock
Oct. 8: Sidetracked, eclectic folk
Oct. 16: The Road Crew, folk rock
Oct. 23: Julie & the Jukes, blues
Oct. 30: SLICE, R&B, Latin fusion