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Mountain View Art & Wine Festival
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22 reviews for Mountain View Art & Wine Festival
I went here w/ the bf and left early to get there by 10:30. I read about how crowded it gets and how hard parking is if I arrive later. We found free parking right next to Chase!
The Philly cheese steak I had was just OK, but they did use cheese wiz for it so it was pretty legit.
There were plenty of beautiful art pieces but the only thing we walked away with was boba from Tea Era and a Cal bandana for our dog.
This is one of the best art and wine festivals in the South Bay, with a great selection of artists and food vendors. This year the weather was blissfully perfect--sunny, but with a nice breeze.
As always, I made a point to stop at jewelry artist Mark Poulin's booth to buy myself a birthday present. But I also enjoyed seeing all the other artists, with offerings ranging from embroidered artwork to felted animal sculptures.
The food booths were also plentiful, and I started at the Armenian wrap booth for a ground lamb kebab served wrapped in lavosh with onions and tomatoes. But I also had to stop and get an order of fried artichoke hearts. I say no art and wine festival is complete without fried artichokes drowned in ranch dressing. ;)
It was also nice to see the Castro street businesses that had tables out on the sidewalks showcasing their wares. And, as always, this art and wine festival makes for prime people-watching. I know I'll be back next year!
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One of my favorite festivals... Why.... Because it's a HUGE one - And the food booths have the best fried calamari!
D and I went early on Saturday to check out the scene before it got too packed - but we ended up staying there 'till it ended! We met up wtih Julia H., Jakob H. and Dennis O and took a stroll around the festival. I liked that they had a ton of booths and cute little trinkets. All the volunteers and Info ppl were helpful to us as well when we were trying to find certain booths and food items. Most of the shops were open too along the streets and were having sidewalk sales so we got some great deals on clothes and jewelry.
Can't wait for next year's festival - Fun times ahead!
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Two stars primarily for raising the prices and the lack of good wine vendors.
$6 for a glass gets you a glass. Oh boy!
Addtl $6 needed per ticket for adult beverage.
Oh, but you don't need a glass if you want beer, instead they'll serve you beer in a child size cup... for $6.00. Lame!
Wineries this season: BV and two others.. nothing notable. The focus was more Art than wine. And I am whining.
Great vendors were stationed everywhere, lots of good things to choose from if you were looking for handmade goods. I would love to give more stars for them alone.. if this was just an art festival I wouldve given it 3 stars.
The cost of the glasses and tickets is up from last year and is more expensive than Sunnyvale or Santa Clara, both of which feature more than 3 wineries.
Boo MV, not coming back next year!
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Out of all the Art & Wine Festivals happening in the Bay Area, this is the one that I come to every year.
While this year, the selection of beer and wine seems scant, the quality of the vendors has improved. Jakob H. & I stopped by so many different booths to admire the artwork and craftsmanship of many vendors there.
We met up with Kelly T, her +1,and Dennis O. for a stroll up and down Castro. Lots of sunshine and a cool breeze, Saturday was the perfect day to go.
Tons of live music and people wandering the streets, we had fun just hanging. Towards the midday, Jakob and I broke off to go get some food. Don't get me wrong, I love festival food. But since I'm much more careful of my diet, most of the festival food is fried and just not for me.
This is a great festival just to hang out for a day and just browse through things and really enjoy the day.
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I went here last weekend with my boyfriend, and I got too excited. Downtown Mountain View is a beautiful place. It reminds me of restaurant city haha. Anyway, we went here on the last day and good thing we got there before it started to rain! This is a huge festival and there was a small selection of food..and everything was overpriced. I got the chicken teriyaki and a polish dog. Both I thought were "alright". I had better tasting food at the Tapestry Festival in Downtown San Jose. Anyway, I enjoyed looking at the different types of art. Unfortunately, I didn't do the wine & beer tasting because $6 is expensive for a dinky ass size cup of beer or wine. Instead, me and my boyfriend shared a tall can of Mickey's which cost only $2 haha.
I honestly don't understand, what is so damn great about the Arts and Wine Festival? I know I'm the rotten tomato amongst all of the other reviews, but I really feel it's just not that special. I've been four years running ('05, '06, '07, '08), and it just hasn't improved. It's ALWAYS crowded, hot and full of over-priced kitchy shit. I will say, Dirk Yurcich Photography is worth a stop. It was really interesting to talk to him and here all of his travel adventures. Enjoy the '09 festival without me, everyone.
This year was a lot of fun. We had 2 wines and you know, the party just took off =) We bought these really adorable aprons from Oil Cloth Alley and enjoyed all the unique artworks. We also stopped by a Mexican restaurant to rest our feets and had a yummy and cheap margarita.
Planning to go again next year!
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I go to this festival every year if i can. It has some great hot dogs and corn on the cob. For some reason the corn is so darn good there. I also love to look at all the different art that people bring out to sell. They've got some interesting stuff sometimes. I really enjoy the nice weather every year and the music and entertainment that happens there. Try going once and you'll see how nice it is.
Oh and i forgot, to mention that the lemonade is also great!
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This is a nice festival because it has a lot of interesting things to examine and purchase. Although it does lack a few things from larger festivals.
There are numerous items such as beads, glass art, jewelry, paintings, puzzles, and toys. Unfortunately, the majority of them are jewelry. This is probably because most customers would prefer to buy something as a present.
Now onto the things that could make this festival better. First of all, very few tables are for festival goers. The tables are for customers of restaurants, but there are barely any signs indicating such. As a result, one of the waitresses shooed us away after noticing we did not buy anything from the restaurant. If I'd known it is only for restaurant patrons, then I wouldn't have sat down to rest my tired legs.
Furthermore, there are plenty of food stands but no food booths in sight. This is in contrast to the Fremont Art & Wine Festival. That festival has dozens of food booths ranging from almonds to vinegarette. They even give out free food samples.
One thing that I really like about attending the festival today is that when some people cut in line, the vendors actually inform them that there is a line and to show respect. :)
Attended this festival on 09/07/08. The sky was clear and the weather warm. Parking wasn't too bad.
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Not as awesome as usual... I thought there was less interesting booths, and was a tad bored...
The heat killed it though - I literally had to make stops to go into local restaurants bathrooms to wipe the sweat away from the places that don't normally sweat!
Don't get me wrong, it's still a 5 minute walk from my house, so I'll be there next year... maybe in less clothing.
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SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT
This was my first year attending and I came on Saturday afternoon. I walked there and by the time we got there we were all covered in sweat.
There were tons of booths with some interesting things, there were also some interesting people (man dressed from head to toe in tye dye and 60 year old women trying to dress as barbie)
I was a hungover mess already that day so I was really looking forward to getting a frozen lemonade which was amazing as always. My favorite booth there was the pop-art booth where a local artist shocased their amazing pieces.
I liked how the festival is on a busy street so you can duck away in the shade of a restaraunt if you got to hot (which we did about three times).
we left after an hour or two and made the walk back home where we collapsed in a 3 hour nap.
Attended this festival for about two hours on Sunday with real life friend Wilhelm Y until he left me to go do some volunteer thing.
LOTS of art. Photography, paintings, arts and crafts both unique and not so unique, clothing, lots of wind chimes. I LOVE wind chimes! Nicely laid out with all of the artists booths along Castro Street, food and porta-shitters on the side streets and only a handful of commercialized vendors throughout the entire set-up.
They have a Kids Park for those of you who have little ones who get bored easily and I imagine many do from all of that walking around.
Cool Jerks played several sets on the main stage in front of the performing arts building. Lots of great dance tunes from the 60's through the 80's, LOTS of people dancing ... just a wonderful, festive atmosphere. It was great to take a breather here and just catch some live music and people watch!
I agree with the reviewers who said the walking areas were a bit cramped because they definitely were, but this festival is nowhere as crowded as many of those street festivals in SF where it is impossible to even turn around in.
I also agree that 6 bucks for a beer and 12 bucks for wine is a lot, but the money went to charity (Leadership Mountain View) and not back into the city's coffers.
I will definitely return to this festival next year!
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I've been to this art and wine festival for the past two years. It's always fun to stroll through the different vendors to see the creative artwork. Gotta love seeing the tied-dyed shirts. I usually don't purchase anything, but my friend had her name written in fancy lettering.
I love how the Organic sample section was at the festival again!! Yum! Throughout the festival, I was munching on Brown Cow yogurt, silk milk, yogurt smoothie, soy meat, some granola, and applesauce. :)
One gripe about the festival was the lack of space to walk. You are literally squished like sardines. In addition, people walk at different speeds so that is annoying.
If you want to attend a larger festival, go to Fremont!
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I really like this event and I've been going to it for [I won't tell you how many] years now. Some of you less experienced festival-goers seem to need some advice from a seasoned expert. Please, allow me:
Don't whine about the price of parking! It goes to a wonderful charity (Community Health Awareness Council) and our city wouldn't be what it is today without nonprofits. Pay up and get over it.
Yes, there are curbs on the city streets. Watch where you're walking so you don't trip and spill your beer. I just hate having to replace my beer every 20 minutes because I "tripped" and dropped it! It happens all the time to me.
Get to the festival around 9:30 am on either Saturday or Sunday. It's less crowded in the morning hours and the lines at the wine booths aren't very long at that hour either. Sure, people drink first thing in the morning. You shouldn't feel embarrassed. Just slam the first one and move on the the second one.
Tye-dye looks great on everyone. It compliments your skin color and goes with your eyes. Don't be shy; you should definately buy the matching pants. I think they also have tye-dye handbags. Can I get you another glass of wine?
Don't ask the local restaurants if you can use their restrooms unless you are a customer. The festival has hundreds of really nice super clean porta-potties for you to use. However, you are welcome to go into one of the many first-class restaurants on Castro Street and relax during delicious meal in order to gain energy for the second half of the festival. If you are a patron in the restaurant, of course you are welcome to use the facilities.
And one last thing--I know you always wanted to get a toe-ring, but you just never really had the time.Today is your lucky day. Here's a booth that installs toe-rings. Just sit right down and put your tootie up on the stool. The nice lady will oil your digit and slip on some toe-bling. Your life will never be the same now that your toe sparkles.
Have fun at the festival and don't forget the sunscreen.
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What's not to love?? Everything is fried!!!
And you get to shop around for junk. If you're lucky, you'll find those life-size toddler dolls in jeans whacked at the waist and made into end tables.
~~ shudder ~~
This years Art and Wine festival was very nice. There were lots of new vendors compared to last year and we really enjoyed taking the kids out. My daughter made a wax hand in the kiddie area and my son got a 'tattoo' on his arm. I even tried a deep fried Twinkie for the first time (not much to write home about...).
What really bothered me about this festival, compared to Sunnyvale, is trying to walk around. People would be checking out a booth and it would block the walking area. I swear from the booths to the sidewalk it was only 3 feet! I found myself walking away from the booths so I could get by, which is a shame and not good for the vendors. I also saw at least 1 person almost trip because of the curbs. Parents with strollers were struggling to get through.
I think they should either move the festival or change the setup. I would have loved to have browsed more instead of fighting to get through people....and we went Sunday at 10am!
I've been to this festival two years in a row. I actually liked last year's vendors better. I found their wares more interesting.
I agree with another reviewer who complained about people standing in the walkways totally oblivious.Annoying. But, that happens at festivals.It should be expected.
This festival is huge! It's very similar to other street fairs held in the Bay Area, but it's still a worthwhile trip if you've never been.
I think the drink prices have gotten a little out of hand, but they seem to be in the same price range as other festivals.
We were actually planning on skipping it this year, but ended up going with our neighbors. We had a good time, and I would probably go again.
I had a great time, but that's probably because I came in with realistic expectations:
1. Lots of money to be spent on drinks
It was $6 for your wine glass and then $6 for each drink ticket. So if you had one glass, you got ripped off. If you had six...
2. Decent but not great booth food
I tried to get something I knew would be good by going to the Amici's booth, but they weren't getting enough business to keep their pizza slices from drying out. I got all crunch and no sauce. I also tried the Hawaiian shave ice, but it was a sorry excuse for what I've had in Kauai. No surprise there.
3. Interesting local art
There was everything from childish drawings of pixies and dragons to some pretty cool abstract paintings and sculptures, but everything I liked was more than double what I'd be willing to pay. A message to the art vendors: this is Mountain View, not opening night at a showing in New York. You're selling your art in a tent, with a guy who makes creepy Muppet rejects on one side and a family of hippies selling tie-dye outfits on the other. Perhaps $750 for a painting is a little steep.
4. Entertaining music
I listened to a group of kids by the children's rides play some very impressive bluegrass. I'm sure that'll come in handy when they get to high school.
So it was a fun time, and I'll probably come back next year.
I'm going to review this as it pertains to the September 2007 Mountain View Art & Wine Festival.
First off, if you've never been to an art & wine festival here in the bay area, this may be a good experience for you. However, if you have been to one of these festival anywhere in the south bay, then there is nothing new here to see. In fact it was so boring I left.
Let's start off by describing some of the positive things first. I mean it can't be all bad right?
- The number of art vendors is quite exhaustive. There were more booths at this festival than I have seen at others. That gives you (the shopper, browser, lurker) the great experience of shopping various different art and craft booths.
- Food selection seemed to be way more extensive than other festivals. cough *Los Gatos* cough...oh excuse me.
- Not only were there man many booths, but many of the stores along Castro st. were open as well and having sales. Glad to see the local merchants were taking advantage of this event.
- Castro street itself. What a nice safe place for an event. Great for anyone, including the family or kids. They even had a large kids area with a huge blow up fun slide. If it had been a few hours later, and I had had a few drinks, I'm **sure** I would have gone down that slide myself!
- Location, location, location! The festival located on Castro St. has El Camino on one end, Central Express way on the other end, and the best part is the Central Expressway end of Castro street is the Train station for not only CalTrain, but the VTA light rail. This is a great location!
- Something I've never seen, but maybe it is common...Free guarded bike rack. That's just cool, Had I known this, I may have rode my bike there.
Ok, now that I've build it up, let's bring everyone back to reality...here are some of the negative aspects (according to me at least).
- Parking, not that there wasn't any, but the fact that they were charging $5 to park in a normally free lot, this was ghetto. WTF, Mountain view, are you not making enough money off of taxes, property taxes, and of course Google??? This was so lame. I simply parked on a side street a few blocks away for free.
- OK, let's get down to the real issue. $6 for a glass (beer or wine, not both), then $6 a ticket. Tickets are used to purchase wine and beer from the vendors. Seriously, if you want simply a glass of wine it cost you a minimum of $12. I was happy to see many people with cans of beer in paper sacks, refusing to pay tis ridiculous amount of money.
- The weird looking wine glass. It's not that weird it's just more lame than anything. Clearly someones idea that was trying to be "artsy", who actually have no sense of style. This thing is hideous.
- The repeat vendor....oh god. I've seen you at every "festival" from Gilroy to the City. I'm sick of seeing you. It's the same every time, I can't believe your even making a profit.
Well that's about it, I hope it improves next year...it sure has room for it.
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I realized at 4:30 pm on Sunday evening that there was an art and wine festival going on at Castro Street - my favorite place for a stroll. Was glad to find a booth where they were handing out greek yogurt (Oikos) and icecream for free. No wonder there was a long line. I was wearing sandals unfortunately and have blisters now. :( My legs hurt like anything. Had fun though - it was wonderful to see all the exotic shirts, paintings, photographs, trinkets, toys. I saw some people eating mango on a stick - I wanted one badly but the booth closed down before I got there. There were two sweet old men (very likely from Italy) playing a mandolin and guitar. Their expressions were fantastic and I thought they were having a really good time. Someone was also playing a celtic harp. That was awesome too.
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The MV Art & Wine Fest. is a large event with a variety of vendors & entertainment but I found it to be a little less enjoyable than some other local Art Festivals. This show has a number of commercial vendors that have nothing to do with Art, nor wine (such as home remodeling, banks etc). It may be fitting for a community festival but doesn't seem to fit with an Art & Wine Festival. Also, while there are many talented artists in the show, there are a number of artists that seem to be more 'crafty' and not of the high quality found at other local shows.