Casey Rafter

By: Casey Rafter, Solving Sacramento Water seeped into my clothes as I waded into Dry Creek: I was fully awake, dressed smartly but casually while stepping deeper and deeper into the Rio Linda waterway. Nearby, Sacramento photographer Elle Jaye was wrapping her hand in electrical tape after she’d gouged her palm while setting up on the grassy embankment. She didn’t let the wound stop her from descending into the current to shoot photos. An hour and a half later, we were both soaked to the chest.

By Casey Rafter, Solving Sacramento The Sacramento Poetry Center was abuzz with adoration for the group of writers gathered to celebrate the September release of “Then & Now,” the third and latest anthology from Sacramento Latino writer’s group Escritores del Nuevo Sol. Among the crowd were poets and writers who had been part of the group from its start. Others were celebrated writers, poets, humorists and still others were newer to the group.

Friends and strangers have descended on Cesar Chavez Park every summer Friday for 30 years, creating a sea of concert shirts, spectacular hairstyles, cups of Bud Light and sun-kissed foreheads for one of Sacramento’s most popular concert series. For the festival’s 31st year, live performances are scheduled every Friday from 5-9 p.m. starting May 3. They continue every weekend this summer though July 26, with the exception of July 5 due to the Fourth of July holiday.