This Weekend: Mountain View Celebrates 43rd Annual Art & Wine Festival

By Tim Beeman

Festival insiders know the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival is the crème de la crème on the Bay Area festival scene.

Voted “Best Festival in the South Bay” multiple times by readers of Metro and still hitting on all cylinders better than ever, this year’s 43rd annual festival, Sept. 6-7 promises to be a “festival like no other”.

Widely considered one of America’s top art festivals, huge throngs of art lovers are expected to pour onto Castro Street in Silicon Valley’s epicenter for this “Cultural Community Celebration” presented by the Chamber of Commerce Mountain View.

The festival will feature an exceptional lineup of artists and craftmakers, many with fresh, new work and a variety of affordable price points. Buyers and browsers will find thousands of handcrafted items by America’s best artists while browsing among 600 well-stocked booths featuring original work in glass, ceramics, metals, fiber, leather, wood, jewelry, and fine art.

New this year is “Wine Haven, Taste of the Mountains Passport Days” presented by the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association.

Wine lovers will bask in the glow of a cool tent tasting wine from premier Santa Cruz Mountain Vintners including Domenico, Cinnabar, Savannah-Chanelle, Loma Prieta and The Mountain Winery.

“These five great names in wine are flagship wineries of the Santa Cruz Mountains,” says Megan Metz, executive director of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association. “Taste of the Mountains attendees will experience some of their premium Cabernets, Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and some rare Pinotage—the signature varietals of our region.”

Complementing the world-class wine, Mountain View’s Milk Pail Market will be sampling a delectable selection of international cheeses in the tent. The Wine Haven tent will be open 12:00–5:00 pm both days, and all of the sampled wines and cheeses will be available for sale (to take home) as well.

Get your groove on!

Thirteen dynamic bands will play a wide-ranging musical mix on the Civic Center Plaza Music Stage and multiple street locations throughout downtown –– pulsating Salsa, Motown, rhythm and blues, contemporary country, classic rock ‘n roll, jazz, soul, world-beat, Americana, Latin rock, disco and party music. The lineup includes ”Salsa Sunday” with Orquesta Borinquen and Ruckatan plus The Megatones, Urgent, The Garage Band, Pacific Soul, Emerson & The Growiser Band, Bob Culbertson, Aryeh Frankfurter, HeartStrings Music, Oscar Reynolds, John Clarke, and Ancient Winds.

The Kids’ Park Community Stage is back! A dazzling array of young performers will strut their showstopping stuff in front of a live audience in this “Mountain View’s Got Talent” style showcase.

Action-packed Kids’ Park will keep youngsters plenty enthralled with ultra thrilling bungee jumping, wild and wacky waterballerz, hands-on art booths, Mobile Rock’s gripping 24-foot climbing wall, super cool temporary tattoos, face painting and body art, hula hooping, feather hair extensions, exotic French hair braiding and incredible assortment of spine-tingling carnival rides and one-of-a-kind themed inflatibles.

Festival eateries will be serving up a world of flavorful fare, and complementing the fabulous food will be premium wines, seasonal microbrews, refreshing margaritas, mimosas and sangria. The brewmasters at Tied House will be offering their flagship Cascade Amber plus a batch of a refreshing California Common as this year’s special festival brew.

This year’s Zero Waste Initiative has been stepped up with the Chamber of Commerce, Recology Mountain View, and the City of Mountain View joining forces to maximize recycling and composting and minimize waste.

Festival organizers are also encouraging the use of public transit, bicycles and car pools to cut down carbon emissions and vehicular traffic. Free secure bicycle parking will be available at Church and Castro.

The festival will be held on September 6-7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Castro Street between El Camino Real and Evelyn Avenue in Mountain View. Admission is free.

For festival information, call 650-968-8378 or visit www.miramarevents.com

Image credit Busa.