Tag: Festivals

‘Tis the Season for Festivals!

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I LOVE a good festival.  Beer Festivals, Art & Wines, Street Fairs, you name it.  The sun, the greasy, sweet of corn dogs, and the delicious beverages – you can’t beat it!

The season is just kicking off – and I’ve had a blast at the 2 festivals I attended.

Festival:  Bay Area Craft Beer Festival

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2 Date:  18 April, 2015 (every year in April)
Location:  Downtown Martinez, CA
Cost: $35 – buy in advance – they sell out!
Info:  http://www.bayareacraftbeerfestival.com/
Highlights:  Good beer (though I wasn’t overly impressed – I thought the 2014 selection was better) good food (we indulged in a Indian Tika Masala wrap – YUM), free shuttle from Concord Bart.
Bummers:  There’s just so many people, and it’s a relatively small space, you need to get there about an hour early – the line to get in gets insanely long!

Festival:  Walnut Creek Art & Wine

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5Date:  30 & 31 May 2015
Location:  Heather Farms Park, Walnut Creek
Cost: FREE!
Info:  http://www.artwinefestivalwc.com/
Highlights:  Good beer & wine, lots of good food options, great music playing all weekend, variety of arts & crafts, kids area, dogs welcome, free shuttle from Walnut Creek Bart and Shadelands Business Park.
Bummers:  None!

Here’s some other festivals I plan to attend:

Todos Santos Music & Market Series – http://www.cityofconcord.org/page.asp?pid=3000
Every Thursday Evenings, May – September, Todos Santos Park, Concord, CA

First Fridays in the Park – http://visitmurphys.com/first-fridays-in-the-park/
Murphys, CA

Operation Red, White and Brew – http://www.eventbrite.com/e/operation-red-white-brew-wine-craft-beer-tasting-event-benefiting-contra-costa-blue-star-moms-tickets-16213403727
June 28, 2015 in Martinez, CA

Lafayette Art & Wine Festival (my favorite!) – http://www.lafayettechamber.org/events/art-wine-festival/
September 19 & 20, 2015

Here’s some links to how I find out about what’s going on:

http://calendar.insidebayarea.com/

Funcheap


http://www.visitsfbayarea.com/events
http://www.hiddensf.com/390-best-sf-bay-area-events.html
http://www.sfstation.com/music/calendar/bay-area/

If you have any event suggestions, or other ways to find out what’s going on in your area – please share!

Mammoth, CA

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With camping season around the corner, I decided to post about an amazing trip I took a few years ago.

3 friends and I loaded down my Subaru and hit the road to Mammoth.  I planned this trip around the annual Bluesapalooza Music, Beer & Food festival.  I had never been, but what’s better than camping, good music, beer and food?  The answer is nothing, nothing is better.

Mammoth:  This place is GORGEOUS.  There’s so many lakes, hikes, fishing opportunities… a nature lover’s dream!  We went in early August and it was beautiful out.  Not too hot during the day, not too cold in the evenings.  The awesome sunset shot below is the result of a fire that was raging about 20 miles west of our spot.

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Campsite:  Coldwater Campground, Inyo National Forest.  We stayed Friday – Sunday in site #55.  The campsite was walking distance to the lakes, and provided a shuttle to downtown.

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Festival:  Mammoth Bluesapalooza. Unfortunately we didn’t book far enough in advance to get the Blues/Brews 2 day – Friday night & Saturday pass (sells out fast!) so we got the Saturday evening concert.  I was mostly there for the beer, so missing out on the free tasting on SaturDAY was a bummer, but with the evening pass you could buy some brew.  Buy in advance!

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Drive:  Having never been to Mammoth, I didn’t realize how far it was.  In the future, if you’re coming from the Bay Area, or anywhere over 3 hours, I would stay at least 3 nights.  2 nights wasn’t enough – considering it was about 6 hours each way!  Woof.

Can’t wait for camping season!  This year I have camping trips planned to Mt. Diablo SP, Yosemite’s Upper Pines, Pinecrest and Fallen Leaf Lake.

Happy Camping friends.

God is good friends.  God is good.