For forty years, the Colfax Hotel has kept its secrets behind boarded windows. On Sunday, August 9, it starts talking back.
Wendy and Leif Lowery — the couple who brought the Dutch Flat Hotel back from the dead and turned Foresthill’s Miners Camp into a destination — are opening the doors of the Colfax Theatre for a sneak peek at something new: the first episode of a documentary series following the Colfax Hotel’s restoration from the inside out.
Sunday, August 9. 2:00–3:00 PM. Colfax Theatre, 49 South Main Street. Free. First 75 seats, no RSVP. Co-Co’s Ice Cream will have the doors open next door, so make an afternoon of it.
This isn’t a groundbreaking ceremony or a press release. It’s the Lowerys, in their own words, walking the community through what’s actually happening behind that plywood — the plans, the problems, the pieces they’re fighting to save.
Why this building matters
Long before it was a boarded-up curiosity in our Historic District, the Colfax Hotel was the cornerstone of a railroad town that put itself on the map. Travelers passed through its doors during Colfax’s boom years. Then, like a lot of small-town landmarks along I-80, it went quiet — vacant for over 40 years, watched over mostly by people’s memories of what it used to be.
The Lowery’s know this kind of building. They’ve already proven it with the Dutch Flat Hotel, a nine-room 1852 landmark they took from shuttered to open, and with a string of other historic properties across Dutch Flat and Foresthill. When they turned their attention to the Colfax Hotel, they didn’t come in with a wrecking ball — they came in with a plan to keep it standing the way it was meant to stand. Their conceptual proposal calls for restaurant and retail space on the ground floor, eight hotel rooms, and eight multi-family units for long- and short-term stays upstairs.
The preservation instinct runs deep.The Lowery’s have gone out of their way to protect the building’s authenticity — they even tracked down the hotel’s original doors after spotting them on a Facebook Marketplace listing. That’s not the move of someone chasing a quick flip. That’s someone trying to give a building its history back.
Where things stand
The permit is in hand. After working through the process with the City of Colfax, the Lowery’s have their final permit — and restoration work on the Colfax Hotel is officially underway. That’s the headline this community has been waiting 40 years to read.
Congressman Kevin Kiley toured the site as part of a Main Street visit that also spotlighted the growth happening up and down downtown. Historic Colfax Downtown Association.
We still won’t put a hard date on when the doors open for good — construction timelines shift, and this building has earned the right to be restored carefully instead of quickly. But “permitted and in progress” is no longer a hope, it’s where things stand today. That’s exactly why this documentary series matters: instead of Colfax hearing rumors about the hotel secondhand, we get to watch the actual work happen, in Wendy and Leif’s own words, as it happens.
Grab a seat Sunday. Grab an ice cream next door. And watch the Colfax Hotel start telling you what’s next.
The Colfax Skatepark is finally under construction — and if you’ve driven by it lately, you’ve probably noticed it. A construction site sits next to the old pool, dirt reshaped into curves and hollows that don’t look like anything else in town. As of this week, the Colfax Skatepark officially has concrete in it.
We’re not the ones building it. That credit belongs entirely to Colfax Green Machine, the local nonprofit that spent the better part of a decade turning an empty lot into a funded, permitted, shovel-ready project — plus a long list of sponsors, haulers, and volunteers who showed up when it mattered. What we want to do is make sure anyone who cares about what’s happening in Historic Downtown Colfax has the real story, in one place, as it happens. Because this is exactly the kind of project that turns a highway pass-through into a place worth stopping for.
On July 14, 2026, a construction crew stood in the half-formed main bowl and sprayed the first shotcrete — wet concrete shot against rebar and mesh to form the skateable surface. It’s not a glamorous milestone to watch. But it’s the moment a hole in the ground starts turning into a landmark.
Colfax Skatepark Timeline: How It Actually Got Here
Skip the folklore for a second, because the paper trail is more interesting than the legend.
The Colfax City Council first approved the skatepark to move forward — on the lot next to the Lions Splash Park — back in March of 2021. That got it a site. It didn’t get it a shovel. The vote that actually got construction moving didn’t come until five years later, in April 2026, when the council approved the construction bid. Everything in between was the slow work of turning a site into a fundable, buildable plan.
Design work leaned on the people who’d actually use the thing. Ty Conners of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office ran community input sessions with local kids and adults to shape a layout that works for skateboards, scooters, and BMX bikes — not just one tribe of riders. The council signed off on final design plans in July 2025.
Money came in slower than the plans did, and it kept having to stretch further than anyone budgeted for. The original project estimate was $444,000. By 2024, prevailing-wage labor requirements and a few years of inflation had pushed that to $674,000 — a jump big enough that Colfax Green Machine ended up redesigning the park with New Line Skateparks to fit the new number.
The funding stack grew to match. Placer County kicked in an initial $75,000 in park fees in February 2022, then added another $130,000 in March 2024 — after the county’s Parks Commission voted 7-0 to recommend it — bringing the county’s total to $205,000. The City of Colfax added a $175,000 grant, then came back in February 2024 with another $100,000 in city park fees to help absorb the cost increase. And Colfax Green Machine did the rest, raising roughly $194,000 combined through grants, community fundraising, and in-kind support — the old-fashioned way: asking.
Then came the unglamorous part: bidding. The council awarded the construction contract to New Line Skateparks — a firm with roughly 400 finished skateparks across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia — at a special meeting on April 16, 2026.
Colfax Skatepark Groundbreaking, Dirt Work, and a Very Big Donation
Once the contract was signed, things moved fast by municipal standards.
Teichert showed up first, in late May, to demo the old structures, clear the lot, and start digging drainage. Then, on June 3, Colfax got its “dirt parade” — Robinson’s Sand & Gravel, Lorang Brothers, Hansen Brothers, Hyde Transportation, and the Placer County Road Department hauling in roughly 550 yards of fill dirt in a single coordinated push. Triton Construction followed behind, compacting and shaping that dirt into the rough contours New Line’s design called for.
The official groundbreaking ceremony landed on June 8, 2026, at the old pool site — the same lot the council had approved five years earlier. Community members, sponsors, and city officials turned out for it. Best Western Colfax stepped up with discounted lodging for New Line’s crew, who are living in town for the full two-and-a-half-month build.
The ceremony also came with news that mattered more than the ribbon-cutting itself: Woodward Tahoe, already a $20,000 Gold Sponsor, announced an additional $15,000 — pushing their total to $35,000 and moving them into the project’s new Elite Sponsor tier. That kind of gift closes the gap between “we have enough to start” and “we have enough to finish.”
Colfax Skatepark Construction: What’s Happening Right Now
As of mid-July, shotcrete — sprayed concrete, applied directly onto rebar forms — is going into the main bowl, with the work scheduled to run three straight days. It’s the step where a skatepark stops being a shape drawn in dirt and starts being a shape you could actually skate.
Colfax Green Machine has been careful to name names along the way, and it’s worth doing the same here. Teichert donated aggregate for the concrete. AA Concrete Supply and Livingston’s Concrete Service hauled it. Solomon Colors is in the mix. Skate 4 Concrete has been on-site helping New Line build. And a crew from 900 Films has been quietly documenting the whole build for a future documentary — so somebody’s making sure this decade doesn’t just disappear into memory.
Colfax Skatepark: Location and Opening Date
Where is the Colfax Skatepark? The Colfax Skatepark is on Parkhill Drive, on the old pool site next to the baseball field and directly adjacent to the Lions Splash Park — about a five-minute walk from Historic Downtown Colfax.
When does the Colfax Skatepark open? No official opening date has been announced yet. New Line Skateparks’ crew is on-site through the summer of 2026, with shotcrete work ongoing as of mid-July. We’ll update this post as soon as a date is set — check back here, or follow historiccolfax.com/events for the announcement.
Why We’re Watching This One Closely
A skatepark doesn’t sound like a downtown story at first. But think about what it actually does: it gives families a reason to park on Main Street, grab lunch, browse a shop, and stay in town for the afternoon instead of just passing through on I-80. Parkhill Drive is a five-minute walk from the historic core. Every kid who shows up with a board is a parent who shows up with a wallet, and that’s the kind of foot traffic Historic Downtown Colfax has been building toward.
New Line’s crew is expected to be on-site through the summer, with more concrete work ahead before the park is skateable. Colfax Green Machine is still taking in-kind donations and cash contributions to help close it out — you can find updates and ways to help at their Facebook page, Colfax California Skatepark.
We’ll be tracking the Colfax Skatepark here as it progresses, along with everything else worth knowing about before you plan a trip to Historic Downtown Colfax. For now: there’s concrete in the bowl. After ten years, that’s the headline — and downtown Colfax just got one more reason on the list of things to see when you visit.
Some wins are quiet. A grant approved. A meeting that finally goes the right way. A building owner who says yes.
And then there are the wins you can see from the street.
Five new businesses have opened in Historic Downtown Colfax. A woman who spent sixteen years at flea markets all over California opening her first real shop. A 65-year resident finally launching her passion project in the town that raised her. A couple who took a birthday drive up the hill, fell in love with a quiet historic main street, and decided to build their dream here. A historian who moved to Colfax and built a craft school because she believed this community deserved one. And a man who has owned one of this town’s most storied buildings for years — and decided the best way to bring it back to life was to open his own shop inside it.
None of them were recruited. None of them were incentivized. They looked at Historic Downtown Colfax and saw something worth betting on. That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when a town starts to feel alive again — when there are events on the calendar, foot traffic on the street, and a growing sense that something is being built here worth being part of.
That’s the work. And this is what it looks like when it starts to pay off.
Nail Salon
Chromie Nails
9 S. Main St · Historic Downtown Colfax CA 95713
Leo and Phoebe came from Atlanta. They worked their way through salons across Georgia and California — building skills, building clientele, building a shared philosophy about what nail care is actually supposed to be. Not just beautiful nails. Healthy ones. Work that lasts because it’s done right from the start.
Then on Phoebe’s birthday in 2024, they visited Colfax. Just a day trip. And something clicked. The quiet. The historic main street. The feeling that this was a town becoming something. They drove home knowing — this is where they wanted to build their dream. With family already here at the Colfax Bistro, opening on South Main Street felt less like a leap and more like coming home.
Leo is the artist. Clients who’ve sat in his chair call him a magician — describe your vision and he’ll bring it back better than you imagined. Custom nail art is his language; music and design are his instincts. Phoebe is the anchor — meticulous, detail-oriented, the one making sure every set is built to last and every client feels taken care of from booking to the moment they walk out.
The full menu runs from classic manicures and pedicures to acrylics, dipping powder, builder gel, and Gel X extensions. Their spa pedicure menu — including a Luxury Herbal Candle Spa Pedicure with mineral soaks, botanical exfoliation, collagen masks, and hot stone therapy — is the kind of service Colfax has never had before. Kid services available for children under 10.
Serra has been doing this for sixteen years. Flea markets across California. Festivals up and down the state. Every piece sourced, selected, or made by her own hands. She knows vintage the way you only learn it by living it — by showing up before dawn at swap meets, by developing an eye that can spot something worth saving in a pile of noise.
The Wildlands Vintage is her first brick and mortar shop. And she chose Colfax.
The inventory spans the 1930s through the 2000s — clothing and accessories for women and men, all sizes from XS to 4X, with price points that run from thrift ($5–$10) all the way up. Alongside the vintage pieces you’ll find modern vintage-inspired brands, custom reworked and upcycled items Serra has made herself, and accessories — hats, shoes, scarves, belts — the finishing pieces that pull a look together.
This is not a shop stocked by algorithm. Every item in it was found, made, or reimagined by one person who has spent the better part of two decades doing exactly this. Open Friday through Sunday to start, with more days coming as the town gets to know her.
📍 229 Railroad St, Historic Fruit Exchange Building · Open Friday–Sunday · Grand Opening June 6th, 11am–7pm 📸 Instagram: @thewildlandsvintage
Antiques & Curiosities
Ms P’s Oddities
Patrice Goulet has lived in Colfax for 65 years. She was the school secretary who knew every kid’s name. She opened Buzz Thru Drive Through in 2000 and ran it for nearly a decade before selling it. She spent fourteen years running a vehicle licensing consulting company before retiring. Three successful businesses built in this town over the course of a lifetime spent here.
Ms P’s Oddities is the fourth chapter — and by her own description, the most personal one. This is a passion project, not a pivot. Patrice has always loved the art of collecting — the hunt, the find, the moment a piece that was overlooked somewhere gets a second life in the right hands. Her favorite part isn’t the acquisition. It’s watching a customer’s face when they discover the exact thing they didn’t know they were looking for.
That’s the shop she built. Antiques, curiosities, and one-of-a-kind finds for your home and garden — sourced by someone who has been a part of this community longer than most of its current residents have been alive, and who knows the difference between something worth keeping and something worth passing on.
Colfax raised Patrice. Now she’s giving something back to it… Again!
📍 225 Railroad Ave, Space 219 · Historic Fruit Exchange Building · Colfax CA 95713 📘 facebook.com/mspoddities ✉️ [email protected] 🎉 Grand Opening June 6th · 11am–7pm
Craft School & Community Studio
Craftfolk Collective
Gretchen Hilyard Boyce is a historian, multidisciplinary craftsperson, musician, and community builder who has spent her career studying something most people take for granted — the way communities are shaped by the skills they practice, the stories they share, and the spaces where people learn together.
She has been making things her whole life. Knitting. Natural dyeing. Herbal medicine. Soap making. Not as hobbies but as a way of moving through the world slowly and with intention. When she moved to Colfax, she saw something this town was missing — a place where that kind of learning could happen in community, free from the noise of social media, rooted in local relationships and the quiet satisfaction of working with your hands.
Craftfolk Collective is the realization of that vision. A craft school and gathering place at 38 N. Main Street — sharing space with Snapdragon Provisions, tucked into Depot Alley — where regional artists, craftspeople, and tradition bearers teach what they know to people who want to learn it. Block printing. Visible mending. Gel printing. Wet felting. Fermentation. Cheesemaking. The kind of knowledge that used to pass between generations at kitchen tables and is in danger of being lost.
Workshops are intentionally small — 10 to 12 people — so everyone gets real guidance, not just a demonstration. Free Community Craft Club sessions run throughout the month for anyone who wants to show up and make something alongside their neighbors. No experience required. Just a willingness to slow down and try.
Gretchen didn’t open a business. She built a gathering place. And she built it here.
📍 38 N. Main St, enter through Depot Alley · Colfax CA 95713 🌐 craftfolkcollective.com 📋 Workshop registration available online
Vintage & Found Objects
Liberator’s Emporium
Todd Saylor owns the Historic Fruit Exchange Building. He also runs Colfax Automotive. He has been part of this town for decades — the kind of person who knows everyone, remembers everything, and genuinely wants to see Colfax come back to its fullest potential. When he partnered with HCDA to activate his building, he wasn’t just being a good landlord. He was betting on his town.
Liberator’s Emporium is Todd and his partner Jenine’s own shop — and it is exactly what you’d expect from a man who loves a good story. Not quite antique. Not quite thrift. Somewhere gloriously in between. Every single item was sourced from somewhere in the Sierra Foothills, and Todd can tell you where. Which barn it came out of. Whose property it sat on. What it was used for and why it matters. That’s not a sales pitch — that’s just how he experiences the world. Everything has a history. Everything deserves to be found by the right person.
Walk in with no plan. Ask Todd about something on the shelf. You’ll leave an hour later with a story you didn’t have when you arrived — and probably something you didn’t know you needed.
The building owner opened his own shop in his own building. That’s not something you see every day. It tells you everything about how seriously Todd takes this town’s comeback.
📍 229 Railroad St · Historic Fruit Exchange Building · Colfax CA 95713 🎉 Grand Opening June 6th · 11am–7pm
Come celebrate with us — Saturday, June 6th
Three shops. One historic building that has been standing on Railroad Street since 1910. And a grand opening celebration that is free for everyone.
The Historic Fruit Exchange at 229 Railroad Street opens its doors Saturday, June 6th from 11am to 7pm. Shop The Wildlands Vintage, Ms P’s Oddities, and Liberator’s Emporium — three completely different stores under one roof, each one worth a visit on its own. Rowdy’s Bad Idea brings live music starting at 4pm. Food and drinks on site all day.
Come early to shop. Stay for the music. Bring someone who hasn’t been downtown in a while and show them what’s happening here.
📍 229 Railroad St, Historic Fruit Exchange Building, Colfax CA 📅 Saturday, June 6th · 11am–7pm 🎶 Live music at 4:00 PM · Free admission
This is what we came here to do.
The Historic Colfax Downtown Association exists for moments like this one. Not just events on a calendar — but entrepreneurs choosing this town, buildings coming back to life, and a historic main street that is becoming the kind of place people drive to on purpose instead of through by accident.
Five new businesses in the historic district. A summer concert series filling South Main Street. A quarterly market that has been quietly proving for two years that Colfax is worth stopping for. The momentum is real and it is building.
We are proud of what this community is becoming. And we are just getting started.
Follow along at historiccolfax.com and find us on Facebook and Instagram. If you believe in what we’re building here — support the work.
The Colfax Bazaar Is Back — and This One’s Going to Be Something Special
Mark your calendars: Saturday, June 27th brings a new chapter for the beloved vintage market and makers fair at the Historic Fruit Exchange Building.
Downtown Colfax is getting its best day of the summer. The Historic Colfax Downtown Association is proud to bring back The Colfax Bazaar — a one-day vintage market and makers fair that just keeps growing — on Saturday, June 27th from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Historic Fruit Exchange Building, 225 Railroad St.
Free to attend and packed from open to close, the Bazaar is where the Sierra Foothills community comes together to shop, discover, and connect. Expect curated vendor booths filled with antiques, vintage treasures, handmade goods, artisan crafts, oddities, and one-of-a-kind finds you won’t track down anywhere else.
New This Year
We’ve been listening, and we’ve been busy. The June 27th Bazaar is the most festival-feel event we’ve ever produced — here’s what’s new:
Face painting
Live music all day long
Food trucks on site
And a few surprises we can’t quite spill yet 👀
We’re going big on atmosphere this year. It’s going to feel like an event — not just a market. Live entertainment, great food, and incredible vendors all in one place — come ready to discover something new.
Live Music: Rowdy’s Big Idea Band
We are thrilled to welcome Rowdy’s Big Idea Band to the Colfax Bazaar stage this June. Live music has always been part of the heartbeat of this event, and this year’s lineup takes that to a whole new level. Whether you’re browsing booths or just soaking in the scene, the music is going to make the whole day that much better.
About the Colfax Bazaar
The Colfax Bazaar is produced by the Historic Colfax Downtown Association (HCDA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing Historic Downtown Colfax, CA. Every event is a direct investment in this community — bringing shoppers, makers, and music lovers to our historic downtown and supporting the vendors and small businesses who make it what it is.
The Bazaar takes place inside and around the iconic Historic Fruit Exchange Building — a piece of Colfax history that makes the perfect backdrop for a day of vintage finds and handmade goods. General admission is always free, because we believe everyone should be able to experience what this town has to offer.
Vendors: There’s Still Room for You
Are you a vintage picker, antique dealer, Sierra Foothills maker, or artisan with something special to share? Vendor booth spaces for the June 27th Bazaar are available now. Spots are limited and filling up — don’t wait. Complete the Vendor Application
At the end of the day, the Colfax Bazaar is about more than great finds and good music — it’s about this town. Every event we’ve held has filled the Fruit Exchange Building and spilled energy out into the streets of Historic Downtown Colfax, and that’s exactly the point. The Historic Colfax Downtown Association exists to bring life back to this incredible little downtown, and the Bazaar is one of our favorite ways to do it. Come for the vendors, stay for the vibe, and help us show the world what Historic Downtown Colfax is made of. We’ll see you June 27th.
The 2026 Live in Colfax Summer Concert Series opened May 30th with Wayward Buffalo, a closed Main Street, and proof that a town of 2,200 can pull off something that feels a whole lot bigger.
South Main Street closed to traffic at 5pm on Saturday, May 30th. By the time Wayward Buffalo hit the stage, it was hard to find a clear sightline from end to end.
That’s the short version. Here’s the longer one.
The 2026 Live in Colfax Summer Concert Series held its opening night at Art Park on South Main Street in Historic Downtown Colfax — five free outdoor concerts produced by the Historic Colfax Downtown Association, running May through September on a fully closed historic block. Concert #1 brought hundreds of residents, families, and visitors from across the I-80 corridor to a night that felt less like an event and more like the town remembering what it’s capable of.
The night itself
Michael James Cox opened the show. His sound sits somewhere between the Ozarks and the Sierra Foothills — outlaw country and bluegrass with enough edge to wake up a street. He held the crowd while the sun was still high and South Main was still filling in.
Then Wayward Buffalo took the stage. The Gold Country Americana band — known for honest songwriting and harmonies that feel like they were grown right here — played a set that was exactly what the night called for. Warm. Rooted. Completely unhurried. The kind of music that makes you want to stay.
People did stay. The restaurants on South Main Street reported a significant lift on concert night. Families brought chairs. Neighbors who hadn’t seen each other in months ran into each other at the beer garden. A fully closed Main Street will do that.
How a town of 2,200 built a free concert series
The Live in Colfax series exists because the community decided it was worth fighting for.
A year ago, the Historic Colfax Downtown Association competed for the national Levitt AMP Grant — a highly competitive program that funds free outdoor concert series in small and mid-sized cities. Out of hundreds of applicants, Colfax reached the top-50 finalists nationwide. For a town of 2,200 on the I-80 corridor between Sacramento and Truckee, that’s not a consolation prize. That’s a statement.
The grant didn’t come through. So the community built the series anyway.
Local businesses, residents, and regional supporters stepped in because they believed in what it could mean for Colfax.
The City of Colfax, Pioneer Energy, Smart Broadband, BLM Lending, Hills Flat Lumber, and the Placer County Arts Council made it real. What launched on May 30th is the result — five free Saturday concerts, a fully closed Main Street, and hundreds of people per show turning a downtown block into a neighborhood gathering place for the entire region.
Concert #2: Love Mischief comes to Colfax on June 20th
When a band chooses to include Colfax on a multi-state summer tour, we take that as a compliment. Love Mischief is making their way from San Francisco to Idaho and beyond this summer — and Colfax is one of only two California stops on the entire tour. They chose Historic Downtown Colfax. We’re not taking that lightly.
Hailing from Sacramento, Love Mischief is led by brothers Brian and Colin Curtin — both graduates of Berklee College of Music. Their live show blends funk, psychedelic rock, jazz fusion, and jam-band energy into something that resists easy categorization. Original music. Exceptional musicianship. A set that takes audiences somewhere they didn’t expect to go.
They’ve built a loyal following throughout Northern California and are gaining momentum across the West. This is a band worth discovering before everyone else does — and June 20th in Historic Downtown Colfax is your chance.
Colfax is one of only two California stops on their summer tour. We’re honored they chose Historic Downtown.
Opening act
Las Ninas Muertas – A five-piece all-women acoustic Grateful Dead tribute from the California foothills. Four-part harmony alongside banjo, mandolin, and upright bass — a sound that has built a devoted following throughout the region. The act was brought to the Live in Colfax series by Colfax City Councilman Larry Hillberg.
Bring your lawn chairs. Grab dinner from the food vendors. Enjoy local beer and wine from the on-site garden. Spend an evening on a closed South Main Street discovering your new favorite band.
This isn’t a local showcase. It’s a real concert series.
Every band on this summer’s lineup was hand-picked. Touring acts making a stop in Colfax. Working musicians who play Strawberry Music Festival, tour multi-state circuits, and rack up regional awards — then come do it on South Main Street for free.
That doesn’t happen by accident. The Historic Colfax Downtown Association spent months sourcing, vetting, and booking talent specifically to bring the kind of live music experience you’d drive an hour for — to your own backyard.
Five Saturdays. Real stages. Real bands. All summer long in Historic Downtown Colfax.
Colfax has always been worth stopping for. Most people just didn’t know it yet. The Live in Colfax Summer Concert Series exists to change that — one free Saturday night at a time. A closed Main Street. A real stage. A few hundred neighbors and strangers becoming the same thing for a couple of hours. That’s the mission. And it’s working.
None of it happens without the people who believed in it first. Thank you to the City of Colfax, Pioneer Energy, Smart Broadband, BLM Lending, Hills Flat Lumber, and the Placer County Arts Council for making this series possible. And thank you to every resident, business owner, and donor who stepped up when the grant didn’t come through. You built this. See you on Main Street.
Concert One of the Historic Colfax Summer Concert Series kicks off May 30th — and if you’re anywhere in Placer County this weekend, this is where you want to be. Two artists. One stage. South Main Street closed to traffic and open to everyone, from 5PM to 9PM. Free.
Whether you’re coming up from Auburn, making the drive from Roseville, or you’ve been watching this thing come together right here in Colfax — Saturday is the night it all starts.
Here’s who you’re going to hear.
Michael James Cox | Opener · 6:00 PM
There are a lot of ways we could have opened this series. We chose a kid from Colfax.
Michael James Cox was born in the Ozarks, found his way to the gold-dusted hills of Colfax, California, and has been building something honest here ever since. His sound lives where outlaw country meets bluegrass — raw, road-worn, and real. He writes songs that sound like they’ve already lived a thousand lives.
But here’s what matters most on Saturday night: when the Historic Colfax Summer Concert Series plays its very first note — on Main Street, in front of this community, in the town he calls home — it’s going to come from him.
That’s not an accident. That’s a statement. This series belongs to Colfax, and we wanted the first voice you hear to prove it.
Michael James Cox opens the entire 2026 Historic Colfax Summer Concert Series at 6:00 PM.
Wayward Buffalo | Headliner · 7:30 PM
Wayward Buffalo is a roots-driven band out of the Gold Country of California — and they are exactly the right band to kick this series off.
Their sound blends Americana, country, and folk in a way that feels weathered and alive. Songs about hard days, honest lives, and the kind of grit that doesn’t photograph well but sounds incredible loud. They play for people who work for things. People who know what a foothill town actually looks like from the inside.
They’re from here. They sound like here. And on Saturday night, they’re playing free on Historic Main Street in Colfax — no cover, no tickets, no catch.
Wayward Buffalo headlines at 7:30 PM.
Event Details — Free Live Music in Colfax CA
Saturday, May 30, 2026Art Park · South Main Street, Colfax CA 95713 · Full Street Closure
Gates: 5:00 PM
Michael James Cox (opener): 6:00 PM
Wayward Buffalo (headliner): 7:30 PM
End: 9:00 PM
Free. All ages. The seating area is grass — bring a lawn chair or a blanket. Easy off I-80 at Colfax. Free parking downtown.
This Doesn’t Happen Without These People
Free doesn’t mean it fell out of the sky. The Historic Colfax Summer Concert Series exists because a group of local businesses and community partners decided Colfax was worth betting on — before the first note was ever played.
We are grateful to the City of Colfax for their early and unwavering support, and to our sponsors who made this possible: Pioneer Energy, BLM Lending, Hills Flat Lumber, Smarter Broadband, and the Placer County Arts Council. This is a community effort in every sense — and these are the people who showed up first.
If your business wants to be part of what’s coming this summer, there are still sponsorship opportunities available. Learn more at liveincolfax.com/become-a-sponsor.
Four More Free Concerts This Summer in Colfax
Saturday is Concert One. We’ve got four more coming to Historic Downtown Colfax — June 20, July 25, August 15, and September 26 — with a lineup that includes a two-time Sacramento Area Music Award winner, an internationally touring folk duo, and a Nashville Star top-10 finalist.
Five free concerts. All summer. Right here in the Sierra Foothills — close enough to Auburn, Grass Valley, and Roseville that there’s no excuse not to make the drive.
Get your butt up to Historic Downtown Colfax. We’ll see you Saturday.
Live in Colfax is produced by the Historic Colfax Downtown Association — a community-built 501(c)(3) dedicated to bringing Historic Main Street back to life. We launched this series with a belief that Colfax deserves world-class live music. Turns out, we were right. Learn more at HistoricColfax.com.
Historic Downtown Colfax is celebrating. Three new businesses are opening inside the Historic Fruit Exchange Building at 229 Railroad Street — and for the Historic Colfax Downtown Association, this moment is years in the making.
Some wins are quiet. A grant approved. A permit signed. A spreadsheet that finally balances.
And then there are the wins you can see from the street.
Entrepreneurs chose Colfax. Chose our downtown. Chose a building that has been standing on this block since 1910 — and for too many years, standing mostly quiet.
That changes on June 6th.
A Building With a Story
The Historic Fruit Exchange Building isn’t just old. It’s woven into the DNA of this town.
Built in 1910, the building was the nerve center of Colfax’s agricultural boom. The Colfax Fruit Growers Association used it to organize, inspect, pack, and ship the region’s harvests to markets across California. Growers brought their fruit here. Packers prepared it for shipment. The Southern Pacific line, just steps away, carried it west. By the 1920s, Colfax was exporting thousands of crates of fruit every season.
In 1926, Colfax became one of only 23 icing locations in the entire Pacific Fruit Express network — a massive operation that kept refrigerated railcars cold with blocks of ice cut straight from the Sierra snowpack. This building was part of that. This block was part of that.
Then time moved on. Mechanical refrigeration replaced the icing platforms. Larger Central Valley operations took over distribution. The orchards went quiet. And the building — architecturally intact, historically significant — faded into the background while tens of thousands of cars rolled past it every day on I-80 without stopping.
For years, that’s how it stayed.
A Partnership Built on a Shared Vision
The story of what happens next starts with a conversation.
Todd Saylor owns the Historic Fruit Exchange Building. When the Historic Colfax Downtown Association came knocking, we weren’t just being neighborly. Activating dormant historic buildings is core to what we do. The Fruit Exchange had been on our radar. A landmark sitting quiet while thousands of cars rolled past it every day on I-80 wasn’t something we could ignore.
Saylor had an idea he’d been talking about for years. A market. Something that would give people a reason to get off the highway and walk through those doors again. When we sat down together, the pieces clicked into place. He brought the space, the history, and a vision that had been waiting for the right partner. We brought the infrastructure, the marketing, and the network to finally make it real.
What followed is what genuine community partnership looks like.
Three successful Colfax Bazaars. Hundreds of people flooding into Historic Downtown Colfax on market days — not just into the Fruit Exchange, but spilling out onto Main Street, into the antique shops, into the restaurants. Local business owners told us they tripled their sales on Bazaar days. Some had to bring in additional staff just to handle the volume. A building that had been largely invisible for years suddenly became the reason people drove to Colfax on purpose.
That’s not a small thing. That’s exactly what downtown revitalization is supposed to look like.
The momentum is real. And it didn’t stop at the Bazaar.
“This building has been part of Colfax’s story for over a hundred years,” says Saylor. “It deserves to be part of its future too. That’s what we’re building here.”
This Is What Main Street Revitalization Looks Like
HCDA isn’t just throwing events. We are building the infrastructure for a living, breathing downtown.
The Main Street America approach — the framework we are working toward as an organization — is built on a simple premise. When you invest in historic commercial districts, you create the conditions for private investment to follow. You don’t just fill a building for a day. You change the perception of what’s possible. You make entrepreneurs believe that opening a business here is a good idea.
That’s exactly what happened at the Fruit Exchange.
We activated a dormant building with a quarterly market. The market drew people downtown. People downtown changed the story about Colfax. And that changed story attracted exactly the kind of entrepreneurs who look at a historic building in a Sierra Foothills town and see an opportunity instead of a risk.
Three businesses. One building. One partnership. One event at a time.
This is the work.
Meet the Tenants
On June 6th, three incredible new shops open their doors inside the Historic Fruit Exchange at 229 Railroad Street.
The Wildlands Vintage brings carefully curated vintage clothing for the adventurous soul. If you’ve been hunting for pieces with character — clothing that tells a story — this is your place.
Ms P’s Oddities is exactly what it sounds like. Antiques, curiosities, and one-of-a-kind finds for your home and garden. The kind of shop you walk into for twenty minutes and come out two hours later with something you didn’t know you needed.
Liberator’s Emporium rounds out the lineup with vintage treasures and unusual pieces that belong in a home, a garden, or a collection. Finds with history. Objects with soul.
Three unique shops. One historic building. Open year-round.
Come Celebrate With Us
The Grand Opening is Saturday, June 6th from 11am to 7pm. There will be food, drinks, and live music starting at 4pm. It is free to attend. Come early to shop. Stay for the music. Bring someone who hasn’t been downtown in a while and show them what’s happening here.
This is a milestone for Historic Downtown Colfax. We are proud of it. And we are just getting started.
📅 Saturday, June 6th | 11am–7pm 🎶 Live Music at 4pm 🍽️ Food & Drinks on site 📍 229 Railroad St, Colfax, CA 95713
Come Celebrate With Us
The Grand Opening is Saturday, June 6th from 11am to 7pm. There will be food, drinks, and live music starting at 4pm. It is free to attend. Come early to shop. Stay for the music. Bring someone who hasn’t been downtown in a while and show them what’s happening here.
This is a milestone for Historic Downtown Colfax. We are proud of it. And we are just getting started.
📅 Saturday, June 6th | 11am–7pm 🎶 Live Music at 4pm 🍽️ Food & Drinks on site 📍 229 Railroad St, Colfax, CA 95713
Three new businesses. One historic building. One community that refused to let its downtown fade.
This is what we came here to do. When the Historic Colfax Downtown Association started this work, Colfax was a town people drove through. Today it is a town people drive to. That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens one partnership, one event, one grand opening at a time.
The Fruit Exchange has been standing on Railroad Street for over a century. It has earned its place in this town’s future. And on June 6th, that future walks through the front door.
There is a version of this story where we talk about what we built and how hard we worked to build it.
That is not this story.
This story is about what happens when a community decides it deserves more — and then proves it.
A recent report from Main Street America confirms what we are already seeing on the ground in Colfax — that events and experiences are one of the most powerful drivers of downtown foot traffic and economic activity. We wrote about what that looks like here in Colfax. The Historic Colfax Summer Concert Series is that strategy in action.
It Started With a Grant We Didn’t Win
A few years ago the Historic Colfax Downtown Association applied for the Levitt Foundation grant — one of the most competitive community music grants in the country. To get there we needed public votes. So we threw a concert right here on Main Street and asked Colfax to show up.
And Colfax showed up.
This community voted us into the national top 50, outmobilizing cities a hundred times our size. The Colfax Record captured what that night felt like when it quoted a concert attendee — “This is the most alive I’ve ever seen Colfax.”
We didn’t win the grant.
But we couldn’t walk away from what we had just witnessed. Because what we saw that night wasn’t an event. It was a community telling us exactly who it wanted to become.
So We Built It Anyway
With early backing of the City of Colfax and City Council, and sponsors who believed in this event before the first note was ever played, the Historic Colfax Downtown Association launched Live in — Live in Colfax.
Not because we had all the resources. Because we had all the proof we needed.
This Summer Is the Result
Five free concerts. Five Saturday nights. Historic Main Street in Colfax closed to traffic and open to everyone — from May through September 2026.
We are not booking whoever is available. We are bringing regional and touring acts with proven draws — musicians who give people a reason to drive up from Sacramento, pull off I-80 on their way to Tahoe, and spend an evening discovering what Colfax has been quietly building.
The 2026 lineup includes artists who have played stages from California to Ireland, from Memphis to Nashville.
All of it free. All of it on Main Street. All of it made possible by this community and the sponsors and partners who believe in its future.
This Is What the Mission Looks Like
The Historic Colfax Downtown Association exists to breathe new life into historic downtown Colfax — to build the kind of downtown that makes people want to stay, return, and invest.
Live in Colfax is not a side project. It is the mission in action.
Every person who drives up from Sacramento for a free Saturday night concert discovers a downtown worth coming back to. Every family who spreads a blanket on Main Street is building a memory that makes Colfax home. Every vendor who sells out their inventory — as one did at our very first concert — is proof that when you give people a reason to gather, commerce follows.
We are proud of what this community has built. And we are just getting started.
Join Us This Summer
The full 2026 lineup and event details are live at LiveinColfax.com. All concerts are free and open to the public. No tickets required.
If you want to be part of making this happen — as a sponsor, a vendor, or a supporter — we would love to hear from you at liveincolfax.com/become-a-sponsor.
In Colfax, California, a small historic town in the Sierra Foothills, downtown is beginning to shift.
A recent report from Main Street America highlights how communities across the country are adapting in a time of economic change—focusing on economic resilience, local investment, and creating places people actively choose to spend time in.
Many of those same strategies are now being implemented by the Historic Colfax Downtown Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing historic downtown Colfax CA.
While every town is different, the patterns are consistent—and increasingly measurable.
What the National Main Street Report Found
Main Streets across the United States are evolving in several key ways:
Events and experiences are a primary driver of foot traffic Downtown organizations nationwide report that concerts, markets, and cultural programming are among the most effective ways to bring people into their districts.
Public-private partnerships are essential Collaboration between nonprofits, cities, and local businesses is a defining factor in successful downtown revitalization.
Funding remains one of the biggest challenges Many Main Street organizations rely on a mix of grants, sponsorships, and community support to sustain long-term growth.
Placemaking shapes identity and visitor experience Public art, walkable streets, gathering spaces, and historic preservation efforts increase visitation and encourage people to stay longer.
Economic resilience is the long-term goal The focus is not just activity—it is measurable outcomes such as stronger businesses, reduced vacancy rates, and increased private investment.
These trends are being applied in small towns across the country—many of them similar in scale and character to Colfax CA.
How These Trends Are Already Taking Shape in Downtown Colfax CA
While Colfax has its own history and identity, many of these same strategies are already being implemented locally through the work of the Historic Colfax Downtown Association.
Events Driving Foot Traffic in Colfax CA
Events are one of the most effective tools for bringing consistent activity into downtown Colfax CA, and that strategy is already producing measurable results.
The Colfax Bazaar draws approximately 1,000 attendees per event, introducing new visitors to historic district and creating repeat traffic for local businesses.
But the momentum doesn’t stop there.
The Historic Colfax Downtown Association is expanding its event strategy with the launch of a 2026 Summer Concert Series, featuring five planned shows on Main Street. These concerts are designed to bring both locals and out-of-area visitors into downtown Colfax on a recurring basis throughout the summer season.
In addition to large-scale events, smaller cultural programming is also gaining traction. The recent “Women Who Refused to Behave” history event—produced in partnership with the Colfax Museum—sold out two sessions, demonstrating strong demand for experiences that connect visitors and residents to the town’s heritage.
As this programming expands, downtown Colfax is beginning to position itself alongside other active foothill communities such as Auburn and Grass Valley—and even larger regional hubs like Rocklin—as a place where people travel for events, not just pass through.
Partnerships Strengthening Downtown Colfax
Revitalization efforts in historic downtown Colfax CA are being shaped through active collaboration between local organizations, the City of Colfax, business owners, and community members.
The Historic Colfax Downtown Association is working alongside key stakeholders to:
produce events that activate Main Street
coordinate with the City on downtown initiatives and planning
partner with local organizations, including the Colfax Area Heritage Museum, to bring history-based programming to life
engage business and property owners in shaping the future of the district
This type of coordinated effort reflects the public-private partnership model identified in national Main Street programs as a key driver of long-term success.
Building a Sustainable Funding Model for Downtown Colfax
As a 501(c)(3), the Historic Colfax Downtown Association is developing a diversified funding model designed to support long-term revitalization efforts in downtown Colfax CA.
Current funding sources include:
grant funding to support large-scale initiatives and programming
business sponsorships tied to events and downtown activation
community contributions that help sustain ongoing efforts
This approach allows downtown initiatives to grow beyond one-time efforts and instead build consistent, repeatable impact—aligning with national best practices for Main Street organizations.
Placemaking and Identity in Historic Colfax
A key focus of revitalization efforts in historic downtown Colfax is strengthening the town’s identity as a destination in the Sierra Foothills.
Current and planned initiatives include:
historic storytelling through events, walking tours, and programming
public art and murals that reflect Colfax’s Gold Rush and railroad heritage
events that activate Main Street and encourage people to explore downtown
long-term efforts to improve walkability, gathering spaces, and overall downtown experience
These placemaking strategies are designed to create a downtown that is not only functional—but memorable, engaging, and rooted in the unique history of Colfax CA.
Growing Recognition Beyond Colfax
Colfax was selected as a Top-50 finalist for the Levitt AMP Music Series, a national grant program supporting small-town concert series—demonstrating that the work happening in Colfax is gaining statewide and national attention. This recognition builds on the momentum already being created locally through events and programming that are drawing visitors into downtown Colfax.
Why This Matters for Colfax CA
For those paying attention to downtown Colfax CA, the changes described in national Main Street research are not abstract—they are already beginning to take shape locally.
Across the country, the report highlights a clear pattern: communities that invest in consistent programming, partnerships, and placemaking are seeing measurable outcomes, including increased visitation, stronger small business performance, and renewed interest in downtown districts.
Those same strategies are now being implemented in historic downtown Colfax, positioning the area within a broader national shift in how small towns are approaching economic development.
Rather than relying on a single initiative, the focus is on building a coordinated approach—one that combines events, identity, partnerships, and funding into a long-term strategy.
From National Trends to Local Application
One of the clearest takeaways from the Main Street data is that successful downtowns are not driven by isolated efforts, but by systems.
Communities seeing the strongest results are not simply hosting events—they are building ongoing programming, aligning stakeholders, and creating a consistent presence in their downtown districts.
In Colfax CA, that same approach is emerging.
Through a combination of recurring events, collaborative partnerships, and investment in downtown identity, the foundation is being laid for sustained activity and long-term growth.
A Model in Progress
The national report makes one point clear: revitalization is not the result of a single project—it is the outcome of consistent, layered effort over time.
That model is now being applied in downtown Colfax CA.
As programming expands, partnerships deepen, and visibility increases, the trajectory seen in other Main Street communities begins to take shape locally.
How to Be Part of Downtown Colfax’s Growth
As the strategies outlined in national Main Street research continue to take shape in Colfax CA, there are opportunities for both businesses and community members to participate in that momentum.
For Businesses and Property Owners
As the strategies outlined in national Main Street research continue to take shape in downtown Colfax CA, there are multiple ways to be part of that momentum.
Whether you are a business owner, property owner, or community member, participation is not just support—it is alignment with the long-term trajectory of downtown Colfax.
This work connects directly to:
increasing foot traffic driven by consistent programming
greater visibility for businesses and Main Street activity
long-term economic growth tied to sustained revitalization efforts
For those with a direct stake in downtown, involvement helps position your business or property within a growing and evolving district.
For community members, ongoing engagement—whether through attending events, supporting local businesses, or contributing financially—helps sustain and expand the progress already underway.
A 21+ BBQ fundraiser on April 25th at The Red Frog is the spark that keeps Downtown Colfax’s free concert series alive all summer long.
Here is what Colfax has learned in the last two years: when you give people a reason to show up downtown, they show up. Not just a handful of neighbors. Not just the usual crowd. Four hundred, five hundred people at a time — filling the Lots of Art Park, spilling out onto Main Street, packing local restaurants and shops until the register drawers won’t close. That’s what the Downtown Colfax Concert Series does.
We bet on Colfax — that this town deserves to be a destination, not just the place you stop for gas on the way to Tahoe. We were right. The proof is in the packed the park and main street, the doubled and tripled sales figures from downtown business owners, and a Levitt AMP Music Series finalist nod that put Colfax on the map nationally.
Now it’s time to fund the next chapter. And it starts with a plate of smoked pork butt and a cold drink at The Red Frog.
A special thank-you to Randy Brock and the entire team at The Red Frog for partnering with us to make this event possible. This is exactly what the revitalization of Downtown Colfax looks like in practice — local businesses and community organizations working side by side, investing in each other, and building something bigger together. Randy didn’t just open his doors. He leaned in. That’s the Colfax way.
On Saturday, April 25th, we’re hosting Rock the Frog, a 21+ BBQ fundraiser and live music event at The Red Frog (1007 CA-174, Colfax). Doors open at 4:00 PM. Dinner is served from 5:00–6:00 PM. Then the Holcomb Brothers Band takes the stage and plays all evening. No-host bar. Good people. Great food.
Not 21+? Want to say home but enjoy the food? No problem. We’re offering BBQ to-go packages so everyone can eat well and support the Colfax Music Fund at the same time. Individual plates are $30. Family packs (serves 4) are $100, with add-on meals available at $25 per person. All orders must be pre-purchased — no day-of sales.
Every meal sold — whether you’re seated at The Red Frog or picking up at the door — goes directly toward making the summer series happen.
What You’re Actually Funding
The Free 2026 Downtown Colfax Concert Series runs May through September — five concerts, free admission, bringing hundreds of people downtown on evenings that used to be quiet.
What does that mean in practical terms? It means downtown Colfax is alive. Businesses on Main Street are buzzing with foot traffic. Families are spreading out blankets in the park. Kids are running around while their parents catch up with neighbors. Everybody’s got a cold drink and a reason to stay out past sunset.
This is a town at the crossroads of everything California was built on — Gold Rush grit, railroad backbone, agricultural heritage, the spirit of the Sierra Nevada. The concert series is how we tell that story. Not with a museum. Not with a brochure. With music. With people. With a community that shows up for itself.
This is a town at the crossroads of everything California was built on — Gold Rush grit, railroad backbone, agricultural heritage, the spirit of the Sierra Nevada. The concert series is how we tell that story. Not with a brochure. With music. With people. With a community that shows up for itself.
Rock the Frog is more than a fundraiser. It’s a proof of concept. It’s Colfax saying: we take care of our own. We build things together. We don’t wait around — we make it happen ourselves.
You can be part of that story. Come out on April 25th, eat something incredible, hear some great live music, and know that your ticket — your meal, your donation — is what puts a band on the stage on Main Street!
Colfax has been a crossroads for 170 years. This summer, it becomes a destination. Come rock the frog.
🎟 GET YOUR TICKETS 📍 The Red Frog | 1007 CA-174, Colfax, CA | April 25, 2026 | 5:00–10:00 PM 21+ Pre-sale tickets required. No day-of sales. BBQ to-go orders also available.
