Families looking for an affordable way to enjoy the fall season won't have to travel far or reach for their wallets. The 2026 Harvest Festival returns to East Stockton on Saturday, October 17, offering four hours of free family entertainment at Harvest Church Ministries, 3051 E. Main Street. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., families can enjoy pony rides, carnival games and prizes, live performances and music, community resource booths, food and other activities.

For families trying to navigate developmental disability services, finding help can sometimes mean figuring out which agency to call, which program applies, what paperwork is required and where to go next. On Friday, October 9, Valley Mountain Regional Center is bringing many of those connections together in one place. The VMRC Cultural & Disability Resource Fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 702 N. Aurora Street in Stockton, with community organizations, service providers and microbusinesses gathering for what VMRC is calling its biggest event.

For more than half a century, the music of the Mike Torres Band has been part of the soundtrack of Stockton and the San Joaquin Valley. On Thursday, October 8, that history will take center stage at San Joaquin Delta College as Mariachi Los Mesteños and the Mike Torres Band come together for a special concert honoring Mike Torres Sr. and his musical legacy. The free community concert runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at Atherton Auditorium, 5151 Pacific Ave. in Stockton.

In a season dominated by online shopping, mass-produced gifts and next-day delivery, a longtime Stockton arts tradition is offering something decidedly different: art made by hand. The San Joaquin Potters Guild Fine Arts Festival returns Friday and Saturday, November 20 and 21, 2026, bringing ceramic and glass artists together with other creators for a two-day celebration of craftsmanship at Central United Methodist Church, across from University of the Pacific.

For one November morning, one of Stockton’s most popular park lakes is about to become a whole lot more crowded beneath the surface. More than 2,000 pounds of rainbow trout will be planted in the 10-acre lake at Shumway Oak Grove Regional Park ahead of the Annual Trout Bout on Saturday, November 21, setting the stage for a morning of fishing, friendly competition and family tradition.

Nearly a century after one of American theater’s most daring plays first challenged audiences, Machinal is coming home to the city of its playwright’s birth. Beginning October 9, Delta Drama at San Joaquin Delta College will present Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal, an expressionist drama inspired by a notorious 1920s murder case and centered on a woman struggling to find freedom in a world that seems determined to control her. Performances will continue through October 18 at the Al Muller Studio Theatre on Delta College’s Stockton campus.

A November 5K in Stockton is asking participants to run for something larger than a finish-line medal. The Her Fall Forward 5K, scheduled for Saturday, November 7, 2026, will bring runners and walkers together to support women and girls while raising money to help local women and children's shelters provide necessities to families in need. The race begins at 8 a.m. at 5250 Cosumnes Drive in Stockton.

Downtown Stockton will trade business suits for superhero capes, princess dresses and plenty of Halloween costumes when Monster Mash 2026 takes over Courthouse Plaza on Friday, October 30.

A night of dining, music and philanthropy in Stockton will also offer something the public has never seen before: the first look inside the planned expansion of the World of Wonders Science Museum.

Colorful traditional clothing, cultural performances, music, sports and the aromas of Hmong cooking will fill the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds this November as Stockton's Hmong community welcomes families from across the region for its annual New Year celebration.