The Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio rocks this weekend with top Country Western artists Carrie Underwood, Chris Young, k.d. lang and The Siss Boom Bang, Kenny Chesney, Leon Russell, Mel Tillis, Gatlin Brothers, Rascal Flatts, and many more in a two-day country music celebration.

Having written about California events and happenings for nearly a decade, we never get tired of learning about the creative ideas people come up with to celebrate California's places and things. Among them are events such as a Poison Oak Festival, the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Arcata in May, Bed Races, Outhouse Races, Golf Cart Races, and the Doo Dah Parade in Pasadena this weekend.

As we gathered a sampling of California events for the first weekend in May, a theme appeared — Country! California isn't all beaches and steel, gleaming high-rise buildings. The heart & soul of the state is its farmland, cowboys, and rural lifestyle that comprises the majority of the state's land mass. 58 county fairs pay homage to "country" each and every year in California, and this weekend the Merced County Spring Fair in Los Banos hosts one such event with Alfalfa Hay Contest, cooking events, and farm-themed attractions.

Other events to check out and connect with your roots this weekend include Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, Gold Nugget Days in Paradise, Lodi Street Fair, and Calistoga Tamale Festival. If you were "country" when country wasn't cool, the a song performed by Barbara Mandrell and George Jones may appeal to you:

I remember wearin' straight leg Levis and flannel shirts
Even when they weren't in style
I remember singin' with Roy Rogers at the movies
When the West was really wild
And I was listenin' to the Opry
When all of my friends were diggin' Rock ‘n Roll
And Rhythm & Blues
I was Country, when Country wasn't cool

I remember circlin' the drive-in, pullin' up
And turnin' down George Jones
I remember when no one was lookin'
I was puttin' peanuts in my Coke
I took a lot of kiddin'
‘Cause I never did fit in
now look at everybody tryin' to be what I was then
I was Country, when Country wasn't cool

I was Country, when Country wasn't cool
I was Country, from my hat down to my boots
I still act, and look the same
What you see ain't nothin' new
I was Country, when Country wasn't cool

They call us country bumpkins
For stickin' to our roots
I'm just glad we're in a country
Where we're all free to choose
I was Country, when Country wasn't cool