Reno-Tahoe

Hot August Nights, one of the nation’s biggest events for auto enthusiasts, has finally started, and the streets are filled to the brim with custom rigs, hot rods, classics and exotics, while the stages are pumping with classic sounds.

The event runs through Aug. 9, with dozens of events every day throughout the Reno and Sparks areas. Download a schedule here.

For one week a year, some of the best golfers in the game stream into Reno Tahoe, seeking birdies, avoiding bogies and playing on one of the best golf courses in the West.

The Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, a PGA TOUR stop at Montreux Golf and Country Club (Aug. 3-9) in south Reno, offers a unique setting among the pines of the Tahoe forest (just minutes from Lake Tahoe) but is also right at the tree line with the Nevada desert on display in the valley below.

And although the LRTO offers a true PGA experience, this isn’t your father’s – or even grandfather’s – golf tourney. Spectators come out for the laid-back party atmosphere. It’s serious golf without the serious attitudes.

Take the Fiesta Loco-themed hole at #16. Here the margaritas and tequila drinks will be flowing, along with a burrito and taco bar. Oh, and there is also a Mariachi band. What would a PGA TOUR event be without a Mariachi band?

And of course there is plenty of fun for the kids. The Kidz Par Tee Zone offers a bounce house, face painting, putt-putt golf and more. This may be the only tournament where the cheers of the gallery have to compete with the sound of squealing kids having a blast.

If you are a wine lover, the Vino 100 Wine Walk offers the opportunity to enjoy all of the golf action while sampling wines at various tasting stations throughout the course. What could be better than a sunny day, high-level pro golf and wine tasting all at the same time?

On top of it all, the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open is an open invitation to have a great time viewing the game that we all love. Beyond the unique events and attractions – and of course competitive golf (players are competing for a $3 million purse as well as all-important FedExCup points), tickets are reasonable, and transportation from Reno Tahoe hotels is fast and easy.

For more information, visit the LRTO page at VisitRenoTahoe.com.

Knowing no bounds, the Club Cal Neva will once again push the envelope with La Tomatina en Reno, with the hopes of starting the nation’s largest ever food fight.

On Saturday, Aug. 29 at approximately 6 p.m., the Reno City Plaza at 10 North Virginia Street will be covered with people drenched in tomato juice as a crowd estimated to be between 3,000-5,000 people participate in the country’s biggest tomato fight.

Admission in to the tomato fight is a minimum $10 donation with all profit from the event going to the American Cancer Society.

The event will begin at 1 p.m. with street vendors on Virginia Street between First and Second streets. Visitors will be able to enjoy plenty of food, beverage, and live street acts while they peruse for gifts and novelties. Food and merchandise vendors will also be on the plaza venue where live bands and other entertainment will be showcased.

The day will climax at 6 p.m. when roughly five tons of tomatoes will spill onto the plaza and thousands will scramble to pick up their ammunition for the biggest food fight the city of Reno, the state of the Nevada, and quite possibly the United States has ever seen.

For more information, visit Club CalNeva’s event listing.

It’s the nostalgia of poodle skirts and doo-wop music … a trip back to a simpler time of drive-in diners and movies, when the car was king America and a night of fun was as easy as hopping in and cruising downtown.

That feeling still lives in Reno Tahoe, where each year thousands of car enthusiasts, ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s fanatics, and music lovers of all stripes descend on the area for Hot August Nights. The 10-day celebration (July 31-Aug. 9) is a non-stop parade of food and family fun, with events at venues throughout Reno and Sparks. Most of the events are outdoors, under the warm Sierra Nevada sun and free to visitors.

This year, organizers expect as many as 800,000 people to visit casino-hotel parking lots filled door to door with rare classics, music on stages in downtown Reno and Sparks, and events like a sock hop, a huge classic car auction and controlled cruises featuring the best cars.

And although enthusiasts travel from thousands of miles to show off classic, restored and one-off rides, Hot August Nights is far from being all about the cars. This is a cultural can’t-miss event that guarantees a good time for all.

Hot August Nights 2009 highlights:

• Peter Frampton plays John Ascuaga’s Nugget July 31
• Show-N-Shine at Cabala’s Outfitters, with raffles and giveaways Aug. 1
• Downtown Reno Show-N-Shine presented by the Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus casinos Aug. 2
• Sparks Victorian Square Craft Fair; kick-off party and cruise night at Peppermill Resort Spa Casino Aug. 3
• Guinness Book of World Records Hula Hoop contest at the Atlantis Casino Resort Aug. 4
• Controlled cruises in downtown Reno and downtown Sparks Aug. 5
• Bog Boys Toy Store at the Reno Events Center in downtown Reno Aug. 6
• Meet the stars and see the cars from American Graffiti at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino Aug. 7
• Grand Sierra Resort “Best of Show” $10,000 Competition Aug. 8
• Official Hot August Nights parade in downtown Reno Aug. 9

Check out complete information online at www.hotaugustnights.net

In our neverending effort to promote the virtues (and sometimes fun vices) of Reno Tahoe, we give away a lot of stuff — and we do a lot of giveaways online. And now we are stepping up the giveaways to our ‘Tweeps’ on Twitter.

If you’re a Twitter user, but you aren’t following @renotahoe, take a moment and do so here – you won’t regret it. Once you are following, check out our contest: We’re giving away a 3-day, 2-night stay in Reno Tahoe to a random Twitter user on Aug. 3. All you have to do to enter is add 10 characters to any tweet – #renotahoe – between now and Aug. 2 and that constitutes an entry. Enter early and enter often for your chance to win.

Contest details:

• The prize is a three-day, two-night getaway to a Reno Tahoe hotel casino
• Winner will be chosen randomly from tweets containing the phrase “#renotahoe”
• Multiple #renotahoe tweets constitutes multiple entries (through Aug. 2)
• Winner will be announced on Twitter and on our contest page Aug. 3

Rules:

• Contest runs July 15 – Aug. 2.
• Participants are encouraged to enter multiple times.
• To enter, follow us on Twitter and include the #renotahoe hashtag in your tweets. Each tweet sent with the #renotahoe hashtag constitutes one entry.
• A winner will be chose at random Aug. 3, and the winner will be announced on the @renotahoe Twitter account and on the this contest page.
• Winner will be contacted via direct message on Twitter and must respond within 5 days via e-mail. A redeemable voucher will be sent to the winner via U.S. Mail within 10 days of receipt of mail details.
• No purchase is necessary to enter.

Read more

Check out other Twitter users’ hashtags of #renotahoe here

Each Thursday vendors set up their tents, bands tune up on stage and the local pubs roll out the kegs for the biggest weekly party in the region at the Sparks Hometown Farmer’s Market.

The market runs throughout the summer, offering visitors a taste of Northern Nevada fun at Victorian Square in downtown Sparks.

In addition to traditional farmer’s market fare, there’s music on three stages, demonstrations, dance and plenty of partying. Check out this video to get a taste of one of Sparks’ signature events.

It’s the one night when superheroes and villains get along just fine – if you missed the Superhero Pub Crawl in downtown Reno, check out the photos below. And don’t miss the Hawaiian-Style Reno Beer Crawl July 25.

Check out the photoset on Flickr.

Celebrate the vibrant cultures of the Pacific Rim during the 11th Annual Pacific Island Festival of Reno, July 24-26. Opening Ceremonies kick off Friday, July 24 at 3 p.m. and the festival continues Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. All festivities will be on the Downtown Plaza on 4th and Virginia Street and inside the Reno Ballroom.

Part of Reno’s Artown Celebration, this free event is presented by Pacific Exchange Productions and Silver Legacy Resort Casino. The Opening Ceremony features the blowing of the conch shell and a performance by Tahitian dance ensemble ‘Ote’a ‘Api to the roaring sounds of Toere and Pahu, Tahitian drums. Entertainment, dancing, contests and great food will be served all weekend long.

For more information about the Pacific Island Festival of Reno, call 1-800-687-8733 or visit online at www.silverlegacy.com.

An exhibit showcasing the amazing adventure of a 22-year-old from Hackensack, N.J., who became the first woman to drive across the United States in 1909, is open at the National Automobile Museum, The Harrah Collection, in downtown Reno. “On the Road with Alice Ramsey: 100 Years Ago” will fill the Changing Exhibits Gallery at the National Automobile Museum, 10 S. Lake St. through Jan. 11, 2010.

Challenged by a sales manager for Maxwell-Briscoe Company, Ramsey drove a 1909 Maxwell Model DA – 30 horsepower Touring Car right out of a New York City showroom and into history.
The company sponsored and publicized the trip to persuade Americans that cars were here to stay. The automobile had recently been invented.

There weren’t a lot of roads at the time, and those that existed were often in questionable condition. Ramsey and her three female companions carried a block and tackle, which they used often.
Ramsey changed tires often and cleaned and tested spark plugs when necessary. When she felt a “skip” in the engine she would hold a hammer against each plug and shorting it against the cylinder jackets to find the problem one. Then she would disassemble it, clean it with fine sand paper and reassemble it.

Alice Ramsey would later be the first woman inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.

The National Automobile Museum at 10 S. Lake Street in downtown Reno is open Mon. – Sat. from 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $4 for children 6 to 18 years. Children age 5 and younger are free. Parking is free. For more information, call (775) 333-9300 or visit www.automuseum.org.

Special events season is underway in Reno Tahoe, and for fans of beer, blues music and hearty barbecue there may be no better time than the Great Eldorado BBQ, Brews & Blues Festival, June 27-28.

Microbreweries from all over the world pour into the region – 31 in all – this weekend to pour their finest wares, while bands play on several stages and ribs, burgers and brats sizzle on the grill.

Virginia Street in downtown Reno is closed to traffic and lined with vendor tents, all under the downtown casino skyline. Read More