The Great Gatsby Festival Returns to Tallac Historic Site
The 39th Annual Great Gatsby Festival returns to Tallac Historic Site August 8 and 9, 2026. Image courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
Bootleggers, jazz bands, and a lakeside estate that's been throwing this party for 39 years.
South Lake Tahoe puts on its glad rags every August when the Tallac Historic Site turns back the clock to the Roaring Twenties. The Great Gatsby Festival has been part of Tahoe's summer since the mid-1980s, and this year marks the 39th run at the Pope and Baldwin Estates. Bootleggers, vintage autos, live jazz and a lakeside setting built for old money summers: it's Tahoe history with a party attached. Here's what's worth planning around this month.
The Great Gatsby Festival
This is the Great Basin Institute's headline event at Tallac, a living history weekend built around the Prohibition era. General admission and the vendor market are free both days, so it's an easy add to a lake weekend even without a ticket to anything specific.
Saturday brings vintage vendors, live jazz from the Jared Blum Band, the Tahoe Ukulele Club, antique autos, classic camping displays and a silent auction across the Pope and Baldwin Estates' lawns. Pope House tours run throughout the day. Once the sun drops, the Gatsby Speakeasy opens for a separately ticketed evening that leans into the era's after-hours reputation.
Sunday keeps the jazz and vendor market going and adds a cocktail class, lawn games and the festival's longtime centerpiece, the Gatsby Tea and Fashion Show, a 1920s luncheon and vintage fashion hour hosted by Cherie Oliver of Fashions of Yesteryear Sierra.
Where: Pope and Baldwin Estates, Tallac Historic Site, accessed via the public parking lot at 1 Heritage Way, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150.
When: Saturday and Sunday, August 8 and 9, 2026, roughly 10 AM to 4:30 PM both days. The Speakeasy runs 6 to 9 PM Saturday.
Cost: General admission and the vendor market are free. The Speakeasy is separately ticketed. Check Tallac Historic Site for current pricing and ticket availability.
Tea and Fashion Show: Sunday, August 9, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. This is a separately ticketed event, and availability may change. Check the official Tallac Historic Site page before planning around it.
Just down the shoreline, Valhalla Tahoe and the Tallac Historic Site keep the vintage Tahoe spirit going well past Gatsby weekend.
Tahoe Improv Players at the Boathouse
The Tahoe Improv Players return to the Boathouse Theatre on August 11, 2026. Photo courtesy of Valhalla Tahoe.
Tahoe's longest-running comedy show turns audience suggestions into whatever happens next at the Boathouse.
The Boathouse Theatre at Valhalla has hosted the Tahoe Improv Players for 32 years, the longest-running comedy show at the lake. Players take audience suggestions and turn them into unscripted scenes on the spot. It's built for families, with discounts for kids 12 and under, and the 164-seat theater keeps it intimate. If Gatsby weekend leaves you wanting more live entertainment, this is the follow-up a few days later.
Where: The Boathouse Theatre at Valhalla, 1 Valhalla Road, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150.
When: Tuesday, August 11, 2026, 7:30 to 9 PM.
Cost: Tickets available through Valhalla Tahoe. Check Valhalla Tahoe for current pricing.
Open Mic Night at the Boathouse
Open Mic Night returns to the Boathouse Theatre on August 17, 2026. Photo courtesy of Valhalla Tahoe.
Once a month, the Boathouse hands the mic to the room.
Once a month, the Boathouse Theatre hands the stage to whoever wants it. Musicians, poets, storytellers and comedians sign up on arrival, with set lengths sorted based on turnout. The theater's piano and sound system are available, and beer, wine and light snacks are sold throughout the night. It's free, low pressure and one of the more human ways to spend a Tahoe evening with a lake view.
Where: The Boathouse Theatre at Valhalla, 1 Valhalla Road, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150.
When: Monday, August 17, 2026, 7:30 PM.
Cost: Free admission. Check Valhalla Tahoe for details and the next date.
Grand Estates Tour and Pope House Tour
The Pope House interior is one stop on Tallac's Grand Estates and Pope House Tours. Photo courtesy of Tallac Historic Site and Great Basin Institute.
A century-old living room that still makes a strong case for touring Tallac twice.
Tallac runs two different docent-led tours, and they are not interchangeable. The Pope House Tour is the shorter, more frequent option: about an hour through the house and detached kitchen, offered twice daily, Thursday through Sunday. The house itself is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architecture and construction methods.
The Grand Estates Tour runs deeper, about ninety minutes through the Pacheco and Honeymoon Cabins, select servants' quarters and the Pope House, along with the broader story of the Baldwin and Pope families. It only runs on Wednesdays, which makes it the reason to come back to Tallac before summer's out.
Where: Tallac Historic Site, Pope and Baldwin Estates, 1 Heritage Way, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150.
When: Pope House Tour, twice daily, Thursday through Sunday. Grand Estates Tour, Wednesdays only.
Cost: Pope House Tour, $17 adult, $8 child ages 4 to 12, free ages 3 and under. Grand Estates Tour, $25 adult, $10 child ages 4 to 12, free ages 3 and under. Book through Tallac Historic Site.
Practical Notes
Parking at Tallac is free but tight, especially on Gatsby weekend. The main lot sits off 1 Heritage Way, and once it fills, overflow lines Highway 89 with a connecting path from the Taylor Creek Visitor Center. Biking in on the paved bike path skips the parking hunt entirely. Carpooling helps too. Staying for the Speakeasy, plan on rideshare, since cell service gets unreliable once the lot fills.
Old Tahoe, Still Standing
The Pope and Baldwin Estates are proof people have fought for a piece of this shoreline for over a century, they just used to build boathouses and Model Ts instead of decks and dock permits. Walking those grounds is a good gut check for anyone shopping Tahoe real estate right now: the setting hasn't changed much, but the rules around building on it, permitting docks and navigating shoreline restrictions have. If you're weighing a lakefront or near-lake property anywhere from South Shore to Tahoe City, that history is worth knowing before you fall for the view.
Kenny Rutledge
Broker Associate at COMPASS Realty
CA & NV Tahoe Specialist
Direct line: (530) 906-3880
Kenny@KennyKnowsTahoe.com
KennyKnowsTahoe.com
