Napa Valley Events

While the rest of the nation is waking up to springtime, here in Napa Valley we know that March means only nine more months until Mustard Festival starts again. Yes, it’s that good.

And we have more to show for it than just memories, we have the photographs. It’s time for the season finale: The Photo Finish.

Put on some duds you’d be happy to wear in a photo-op, and mingle and admire the Photography Contest and Exhibit, with images capturing the season’s beauty forever, and also available for purchase.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon Estate is the hosting winery this year. Enjoy a heady array of wines, along with sweets and savories, amidst the Rubicon’s mind-boggling décor. And until the next time, dear friends, revel in the party to the last dance.

The Photo Finish is next Saturday, March 27 at 7 PM. Tickets are $95 in advance - buy here - and $125 at the door if you can get in. Rubicon is in Rutherford, click here for directions from our hotel.

We all love gourmet food, and if we can get it without snooty waiters and the whole stuffed shirt scenario - why, we must be in Yountville, the gourmet capital of Napa Valley and a world-class culinary legend.

One of the great treats of Mustard Festival is the Taste of Yountville, a downtown walk-around immersed in live music, when the town’s award-winning chefs bring out their finest foods and flavors for us to sample.

The 17th Annual Taste offers the delicious reason why Yountville is so Michelin-starred. The culinary magic showcases incomparable dishes along with olive oils, vinegars and mustards as well as wines and micro-brews - and a tour of the famous French Laundry restaurant’s 2-acre garden masterpiece.

It’s a festive stroll amidst food and shopping to die for and it takes place on Saturday, March 20, 11 AM to 5 PM. It’s free, with $1 tasting tickets or a universal tasting passport available. For more information call 707-944-0904 or click here.

Yountville is 18 miles north of our hotel, click here for directions.

Are you a jazz fiend or foe? Either way, get ready for the annual jazz festival in Calistoga. This year’s Mustard, Mud and Music Festival takes over Calistoga’s scenic downtown all weekend. There’s wine tasting offered by some two dozen wineries, and the air will be filled with some very groovy music.

Some of the best jazz artists in the Bay Area will be touring through with music ranging from solo flamenco guitar to Chapman Stick to full bands. Check the event website for full information on the acclaimed musicians performing at multiple venues.

The jazz is free, wine tasting is $25 per person for one-day (10 tastings), $40 (and 20 tastings) for both days. For online tickets and a 10% discount, click here.

The festival fills the weekend of March 6-7, 1-6 PM. Call 707-942-6333 for more information, or else just get yourself to Lincoln Avenue in downtown Calistoga and the fun will find you - click here for directions.

Napa Valley glitters with art galleries and talented artists, and the Mustard Festival is a great occasion for them to show off.

Over a dozen galleries team up with St. Supéry Winery and Hall Winery to present A Weekend of Fine Art. All through the weekend of February 6th-7th, the galleries will feature special exhibits and presentations.

On Saturday evening at St. Supéry the event’s featured artists will appear at a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception, at 5-7 PM. Hall Winery will host an artist’s reception on Sunday at 1-3 PM.

This year’s official Mustard Festival work of art, Reverie by Thomas Monaghan, has already opened bidding at silent auction, and will be on display at Hall Winery through the season.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information click here, or call (707) 938-1133 ext 106.

St. Supéry is at 8440 St. Helena Hwy, Rutherford, 23 miles from our hotel. Click here for directions.

People who don’t live in the Napa Valley think it’s the middle of winter. We know differently, because while the grapevines are resting, the vineyards come alive with wild mustard in bloom.

The scenery is spectacular and the season begins - it’s Mustard Festival time!

It’s talked about all over the world, and a magnet for winter refugees from around the globe seeking to banish the winter blahs. The Napa Valley Mustard Festival signifies three months of bustle, cheerfulness and festivity.

And who better than the world-class chefs of the Culinary Institute of America to stage the Grand Opening Gala of the season? It’s Mustard Magic, when theater, food, wine and art all mingle with music and the everyday magic of the Valley.

It’s a sumptuous event filling all three stories of CIA’s magic castle at Greystone, one of Napa Valley’s most historic and majestic properties.

Mustard Magic happens on January 30th at 7 PM. Tickets are $125 for advance booking here, $150 at the door. More information is available at the official Mustard Festival web site.

CIA at Greystone is at 2555 Main Street in St. Helena, less than 30 miles from our hotel. Click here for directions from our hotel.

There’ll be lots of pickin’ and grinnin’ Saturday, September 12 at the 4th Annual Old Time Bluegrass Festival. The festival features Laurie Lewis & Nina Gerber and Susie Glaze & the Hilonesome Band, plus arts & crafts, kids activities and local food.

The festival runs from 10:00 AM till 6:30 PM at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, 8853 Highway 53 at Anderson Ranch Parkway. Tickets a $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Kids 12 and under get free admission.

Visit the festival web site for more info.