Sonoma County Events

Summer and harvest time in Sonoma County is packed with events almost every day. Check out the schedule on the left for a small sample of this season's special happenings. My choice for most colorful poster of the season is Sebastopol Rotary's Club's 13th annual Cajun-Zydeco Festival on September 6. In addtion to this Cajun and zydeco event you have Jazz on the River in Guerneville, a wild accordion festival in Cotati, and wine and food events where you will encounter a wide variety of music.

The food and wine activities range from enduring classics like the Harvest Festival and Sonoma County Wine Country Weekend to newer and wildly successful events like the Stumptown Brewery hosted Russian River Beer Revival and Kendall Jackson's Heirloom Tomato Festival. Most of these activities have legions of fans and are almost always sold out by the day of the event, so plan ahead and get your tickets online or by phone.

If you're more visual than food oriented, there are some great opportunities coming up to meet local artists in their studios. You can explore the art scene on the Sonoma and Mendocino coast during Labor Day weekend and the first weekend in September with the 2008 Studio Discovery Tour. If local art is your passion, ArtTrails has two weekends of art in Sonoma County on October 11-12 and 18-19, 2008

In addtition to the standard event activities, this is the right time of year to make up your own outdoor adventure. You can take a hike in Armstrong Woods or drive out to Jenner or Salt Point for a picnic with the seals. You might choose to go mountain biking in Annadel or try to visit every farmers' market in the county one week. If you run short of energy for an active day, there's always wine and cheese tasting, or just sitting in the sun watching the wind blow.

This has been an early grape harvest year in Sonoma County, so it's a fun time to visit wineries even when they aren't having special events. The activity around the crush is fascinating to watch as everyone is running at double speed to make sure the grapes are harvested and processed at their peak.

Sonoma County Events

Events

Sonoma County Events

Dave's Sonoma County Blog