WELCOME TO PLEASANTON

Pleasanton (formerly, Alisal and Pleasonton) is a city in Alameda County,California, incorporated in 1894. It is a major suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area located about 25 miles (40 km) east of Oakland, and 6 miles west of Livermore. In 2005 and 2007, Pleasanton was ranked the wealthiest middle-sized city in the United States by the Census Bureau. Pleasanton is home to the headquarters of Safeway Inc., Oracle and Kaiser Permanente have offices in Hacienda Business Park. Although Oakland is the Alameda County seat, a few county offices and a courthouse are located in Pleasanton. Additionally, the main county jail is in the neighboring city of Dublin. The Alameda County Fairgrounds are located in Pleasanton, and the annual County Fair is held there during the last week of June and the first week of July. Shadow Cliffs Regional Park is located on the east side of town.

Events and festivals

Pleasanton continues to maintain a small town flavor with regular events for the community. Every Saturday morning the Farmers' Market sets up on Angela, off Main Street. The Alameda County Fair runs annually at the Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. The Fairgounds in Pleasanton are also home to California's Biggest Scottish Highland Games once a year.

First Wednesday

For many years, the Pleasanton Downtown Association has organized and held the popular First Wednesday celebrations from May through September. On every first Wednesday of those summery months, Main Street is blocked to traffic and adopts a street fair atmosphere. Each First Wednesday celebration is given a different theme and planned with related activities. Typically the first First Wednesday's theme is Cinco de Mayo since May is the first month for these street parties. At this local event, businesses and organizations from downtown and around the Tri-Valley set up booths in the center of the street. A local band performs in the Round Table Pizza parking lot, which is closed off for dancing. The parking lot is also set up as a kind of beergarden, with beer and wine available for consumption.

Friday Concerts in the Park

Another Pleasanton Downtown Association tradition is the Friday Concerts in the Park series. Every Friday from June until September the PDA schedules different local bands to perform in the evenings at the Lions' Wayside Park off of First Street. The events are free of charge and draw a crowd. Locals will start laying out blankets in the park on Friday mornings as a way to reserve a spot. The music is generally eclectic. Past acts have included Tommy and the Four Speeds, The CoolTones, Night Fever Band, Night Shift, Midnight Hour, Magic Moments, La Ventana and Public Eye.

Media

Due to its central location within the "Tri-Valley," a group of neighboring cities including Livermore, and Dublin, Pleasanton is home to most of the local media. This includes cable access station TV30, radio station 101.7 KKIQ, and newspapers Pleasanton Weekly, Tri-Valley Herald and Valley Times.