Helping You Find Things to Do in Vacaville
TL;DR
I just launched a website: https://www.eventsinvacaville.com/
It shows what’s happening around Vacaville markets, live music, workshops, family events, and more all in one place. If you’ve ever said “we should get out of the house but don’t know what’s going on,” this is for you.
I grew up in Dixon, about 8 miles away, and I’ve been around Vacaville since 1999.
One thing has always felt true: there’s more happening here than people realize.
But somehow, most of us only hear about events after they’re over.
My family and I regularly leave town to find things to do not because Vacaville has nothing going on, but because there’s never been an easy way to see everything going on here in one place.
So a few days ago, I decided to build something simple.
A website that answers one question: What’s happening in Vacaville right now?
Why I made this
This is actually the first local/community tool I’ve ever built.
I’m a software engineer by trade, and I’m usually a pretty quiet builder more of a tinkerer than someone who announces things. I like solving annoying problems and building useful stuff. I’ve had plenty of ideas over the years, but none of them ever quite felt right.
This one did.
Mostly because it’s a problem I run into all the time. And if I’m running into it, I’m probably not the only one.
Vacaville has:
- local markets
- small business events
- live music
- community gatherings
- classes and workshops
- random cool pop-ups
...but finding them requires checking five different places and hoping you didn’t miss something.
It shouldn’t be that hard.
What the site is meant to be
The idea is simple: one clean place to see what’s happening locally.
No accounts. No clutter. No digging through social media.
Just:
- What’s happening today
- What’s happening this week
- What’s happening this weekend
- Upcoming local events
That’s it.
Something you can check in 30 seconds when you’re wondering what to do.
Why local things matter
I’ve always liked building useful things, but this one feels a little different because it’s local.
Vacaville has a lot of people trying to create things small business owners hosting events, artists performing, organizers putting together markets and community gatherings. There’s real effort happening here every week.
When more people show up, those things keep happening. When they don’t, they slowly disappear.
If this site can help more people discover what’s already happening around town, that’s a win for everyone:
- more support for local businesses
- more visibility for organizers and artists
- more reasons to get out of the house
- more reasons for visitors to spend time here
Best case scenario a year from now? It becomes the first place people check before the weekend. Locals use it. Visitors use it. Businesses rely on it. And more people show up to the things that make this place feel alive.
That would be enough.
This only works if people use it
If you live in Vacaville (or nearby), take a look: https://www.eventsinvacaville.com/
If you run a local event or business, you can submit events to be added. If you find it useful, share it with someone. If something’s missing, tell me. If something’s broken, definitely tell me.
I’m building and improving it as I go, and the goal is simple: make it genuinely useful for the community.
More people showing up to local things is good for all of us and if this helps even a little with that then it’s already worth building.