Each summer, when the valley sun is high and Lodi’s downtown hums with music and laughter, we gather to honor one of Lodi’s boldest originals — Laura DeForce Gordon. In the 1870s, Laura stepped off a train into what was then a rough-edged railroad town and set out to change it. A journalist, speaker, and reformer, she challenged the “boozy rascals” of her day to get sober, vote wisely, and — most controversially—to let women have a say.

Laura DeForce Gordon Day celebrates that fearless spirit with play, humor, and community. The games are silly on purpose: shouting your truth in the Booing Contest and working together through the Legislative Obstacle Course take the same mix of courage and cooperation that shaped California’s early civic life. It’s history that moves, laughs, and occasionally trips over its long skirts.

The event is held on the Saturday closest to August 17, Laura’s birthday. Everyone is welcome — families, first-timers, and longtime locals alike. Between contests you can meet costumed guides, visit historic sites, and cool off with Lodi’s own A&W Root Beer, a cheerful nod to the city’s temperance past.

Come ready to play, learn, and rediscover the heart of downtown Lodi—because, as we like to say, people who play together, stay together.

We pour A&W Root Beer floats at Lola’s Saloon — a nod to Lodi’s role in A&W’s history and Laura’s temperance work — and we sell hats at Mary Tindell’s Hat shoppe, which in the late 1800s was on Sacramento Street. We also face the hard parts of the past, including anti-Chinese racism of the period; programming is designed in consultation with the local Chinese-American community so we learn, not erase. 

Come play, learn, and rediscover Lodi with new eyes—because people who play together, stay together!