Choose Folsom’s Dinner on the Bridge will bring an elaborate culinary experience and 250-drone finale to the city landmark Sept. 13; a ticket lottery is now open for limited seats
For generations, the Rainbow Bridge has been one of Folsom’s most recognizable landmarks, carrying residents and visitors across the American River and standing as an enduring symbol of the community. On one September evening, however, the historic bridge will take on a role unlike anything in its long history.
Instead of vehicles crossing its familiar concrete arches, tables and place settings will stretch across the Rainbow Bridge as guests gather above the American River for Dinner on the Bridge, an ambitious one-night celebration marking 80 years since Folsom became an incorporated city.
Set for Sunday, Sept. 13, the event is being presented by Choose Folsom as a signature celebration of Folsom’s 80th anniversary, bringing together food, history, community and one of the city’s most iconic settings for an experience designed to celebrate Folsom’s past, present and future. After sponsorships helped bring the large-scale event to reality and secured many of the seats at the table, a public ticket lottery is now underway to determine who will have an opportunity to purchase the remaining seats for what is shaping up to be one of the most distinctive anniversary celebrations the city has hosted.
The setting itself is a major part of what makes the evening unique. The Rainbow Bridge is not simply serving as a backdrop. The bridge itself will become the venue, placing diners directly above the American River in the heart of Folsom as daylight gives way to sunset and evening. Guests will be treated to a multi-course culinary experience led by three prominent regional chefs, with appetizers supplied by a collection of Folsom-area restaurants and dessert from a local patisserie.
When the dining portion of the evening concludes, attention will turn from the bridge to the sky. A customized 10-minute drone show sponsored by Dignity Health will send 250 drones into the evening sky in a display designed to be visible not only to those fortunate enough to have a seat at the dinner, but also to residents throughout the surrounding area.
The aerial presentation will recognize two major milestones being celebrated in 2026 — the 250th anniversary of the United States and 80 years of the City of Folsom and the Folsom Chamber of Commerce. For those at the tables, it will provide the finale to a celebration that has required substantial participation from businesses, health care providers, community organizations, public agencies and other partners to transform the idea of dining on one of Folsom’s best-known landmarks into reality.
Community support brings an ambitious celebration to life
Putting an elaborate dinner in the middle of the Rainbow Bridge is considerably different from hosting a traditional banquet inside a ballroom or convention center, and community sponsorship has played a significant role in making the Sept. 13 event possible. Sponsorship opportunities have ranged from $2,500 at the Silver level to $50,000 for the presenting sponsorship, with Platinum, Diamond and Gold levels in between.
Sutter Health stepped forward as the presenting sponsor for Dinner on the Bridge. Dignity Health, Folsom Auto Mall and the City of Folsom are Platinum sponsors; Kaiser Permanente, SAFE Credit Union and SMUD are Diamond sponsors; and Gold sponsors include Cruise Planners, DesCor Builders, Dokken Engineering, Elliott Homes, Prime Real Estate and Romo Incentives Group.
The event has also drawn a lengthy roster of Silver sponsors representing businesses, professional services, government, health care and community organizations. They include Almendariz Consulting; Bank of Marin; Brewer Lofgren LLP; CSL Solutions; Dawn Johnson Coastal Title Group; Folsom Ranch; Clubhouse Realty; Kikkoman; Marshall; Micron; ECORP Consulting Inc.; Assemblyman Josh Hoover; Piper Sandler; Palladio; Powerhouse; Sacramento County Supervisor Rosario Rodriguez; Sharif Fine Jewelers; Shriners Children’s; Sivalingam Law; and R.E.Y. Engineers Inc.
Together, that support has helped Choose Folsom build an event that goes well beyond putting tables and chairs on a bridge. The evening brings together a large culinary collaboration, entertainment, a community-wide aerial finale and the logistics necessary to temporarily transform one of Folsom’s most recognizable pieces of infrastructure into a dining venue. Now, with the event just over a month away, attention is turning to who will actually get to take a seat at those tables.
Ticket lottery opens a rare opportunity to the public
Choose Folsom has officially opened the Dinner on the Bridge Ticket Lottery, giving the public an opportunity to purchase the remaining tickets after sponsor allocations. Lottery entries will be accepted through 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13.
After the entry period closes, submissions will be randomized. Those selected will be notified by email Monday, Aug. 17, with instructions for purchasing their tickets. Tickets are sold exclusively in pairs for $700, or $350 per person.
Being selected in the lottery does not mean receiving complimentary tickets. Instead, those whose names are drawn will receive the opportunity to purchase a pair. Once notified, each selected entrant will have 24 hours to complete the transaction. If the purchase is not completed during that window, the opportunity will move to the next person on the list.
The system gives residents and others hoping to experience the celebration a shot at the limited number of seats remaining rather than turning the release into a race to an online ticketing page. For those selected, the ticket will provide admission to something that cannot easily be recreated: dinner in the middle of the Rainbow Bridge during Folsom’s 80th anniversary year. Enter the Dinner on the Bridge ticket lottery
Three acclaimed chefs lead the culinary experience
While the Rainbow Bridge provides the spectacular setting, the centerpiece of the evening will be what arrives at the tables. Three accomplished regional chefs have been selected to lead the culinary program: Patricio Wise of Nixtaco, Nicholas Blessing of Scotts Seafood Roundhouse in Historic Folsom and Devin Dedier of Vacanza Romana in El Dorado Hills.
Wise is the chef-owner of Nixtaco Mexican Kitchen & Distillery and has become one of the region’s leading ambassadors for Northern Mexican cuisine. He and his wife, Cinthia Martínez, opened Nixtaco in Roseville in 2015. The restaurant has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand for six consecutive years since 2019, along with recognition from Food & Wine and the Los Angeles Times.
In 2026, Nixtaco celebrated its 10th anniversary, opened a third location at Sacramento International Airport and was featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Wise is also an accomplished distiller and serves as a culinary advisor for Visit Sacramento and Choose Folsom, helping promote the region’s Farm-to-Fork movement.
Joining Wise is Blessing, executive chef of Scotts Seafood Roundhouse, bringing an especially fitting Historic Folsom connection to the dinner. Blessing has led the restaurant’s culinary team since Scotts Seafood Roundhouse opened in 2019 and brings 18 years of professional experience to the event. His seasonal menus combine French and Italian techniques with California ingredients and global influences.
A strong advocate for sustainability and regional sourcing, Blessing works closely with local farmers, ranchers and fishermen, building dishes around ingredients available throughout Northern California. His approach emphasizes thoughtful, ingredient-driven cuisine and the type of regional flavors organizers hope to showcase during the anniversary dinner.
Rounding out the trio is Dedier, executive chef of Vacanza Romana in El Dorado Hills. Raised in a Sacramento restaurant family, Dedier helped open the Roman-inspired restaurant in 2023, where his cooking combines classic Italian techniques with Northern California’s seasonal ingredients.
Dedier also brings firsthand experience with another of the Sacramento region’s signature bridge dinners. In 2025, he was selected as one of four lead chefs for Sacramento’s prestigious Tower Bridge Dinner, becoming the first chef from the El Dorado Hills-Folsom area to receive the honor. He has also been recognized as a Best Chef in El Dorado Hills and Folsom and is preparing to open Cuvée Club, a champagne-themed New American diner in Granite Bay.
Together, Wise, Blessing and Dedier will lead the culinary centerpiece of a night built around the idea of showcasing the region while celebrating Folsom itself.
Folsom restaurants add their flavors to the bridge
The collaboration extends well beyond the three lead chefs, with several familiar restaurants providing appetizers for the evening and adding a broader sampling of the local dining community to the celebration.
Crawdads on the Lake, Encanto Cocina & Tequila Bar, Manderes, Plank Kitchen + Bar, Poor Red’s Bar-B-Q, Sutter Street Steakhouse and Zócalo are providing appetizers, while Julian’s Patisserie & Cafe will provide dessert.
The lineup gives Dinner on the Bridge another distinctly local element, bringing together establishments representing different styles and corners of the greater Folsom dining scene. Rather than importing an entire culinary program for a special event, the evening will place many of the restaurants and chefs associated with the region directly into the anniversary celebration. For an event designed around Folsom’s identity, the city and surrounding area will not simply provide the setting — its culinary community will help tell the story at the table.
A finale designed for more than those with a ticket
There is one unavoidable limitation to putting dinner on the Rainbow Bridge: only so many people can have a seat. Organizers have addressed that in part by designing the evening’s finale to reach beyond the dinner tables.
The 250-drone aerial show will last approximately 10 minutes and is planned as a community-visible presentation, allowing residents in the surrounding area to share in a portion of the anniversary celebration even without a dinner ticket. Sponsored by Dignity Health, the show will commemorate America’s 250th anniversary along with the 80th anniversaries of the City of Folsom and Folsom Chamber of Commerce.
Against the backdrop of the American River and the Rainbow Bridge, the customized display is intended to create a finale that can be experienced from beyond the confines of the dinner itself. For those seated on the bridge, it will cap an evening built around an unusual combination — a familiar landmark transformed for a few hours into a place residents have never experienced quite this way.
A celebration that gives back
Dinner on the Bridge will also extend its impact beyond the anniversary celebration itself. A portion of the event proceeds will benefit Twin Lakes Food Bank, supporting the nonprofit’s work providing food and essential resources to individuals and families throughout the Folsom community.
That charitable component adds another local connection to a night already built around the city’s restaurants, businesses, organizations, landmarks and people. And perhaps nothing ties those pieces together more visibly than the Rainbow Bridge itself.
Long before Folsom reached its 80th year as a city, the bridge was already part of the community landscape. Its arches above the American River have become inseparable from images of Folsom, particularly the historic district and river corridor. Residents have driven across it, walked across it, photographed it and watched countless sunsets around it.
On Sept. 13, a limited number will do something considerably different: they will sit down for dinner on it.
As sunset settles over the American River, the tables, chefs, restaurants and guests will turn the landmark into an open-air dining room for one night. Later, 250 illuminated drones will rise overhead as the community marks eight decades of Folsom cityhood.
For those whose names emerge from the ticket lottery, the $350 seat will offer more than a multi-course dinner. It will offer a place at the table for a celebration that, by its very design, is unlikely to happen quite the same way again.
Dinner on the Bridge takes place Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. The public ticket lottery closes at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, with selected entrants scheduled to be notified Monday, Aug. 17. Tickets are $700 per pair, and selected entrants will have 24 hours to complete their purchase before the opportunity moves to another entrant. For any additional information on the event or the lottery visit the official webpage for the event or contact staff HERE.
Copyright © 2026, Folsom Times, a digital product of All Town Media LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Rainbow Bridge imagery by Jason Keinigs, courtesy of Visit Folsom.
