Preview of the Capitola Art and Wine Festival This Weekend

This weekend marks the 30th annual Art and Wine Festival in Capitola Village, and it's shaping up to be quite the event.

The streets of Capitola Village will be closed to traffic so that pedestrians can peruse the art of 150 fine artists against the scenic backdrop of the Monterey Bay. Festival goers can also sip the skillfully vinted wine of a variety of 21 Santa Cruz Mountain wineries. (Get the full list of participating wineries HERE.)

"All of the different wineries are all serving different wines and the tastings range between two and four tokens," said Carrie Arnone, Marketing and Member Services Director for the Capitola Chamber of Commerce.

Festival goers get to keep their 2012 wine glass, and will also get to choose from 21 local restaurants and caterers in two different food court areas.

The entertainment schedule is brimming with talented musicians, dancers and street performers, and both days will kick off with a high energy dance performance on the Bandstand stage.  (Check out the full schedule below!)

The largest fundraiser of the year for the Capitola-Soquel Chamber of Commerce, the Art and Wine festival has helped the Chamber raise and donate over $130,000 to local school groups, charities, and non profit organizations helping out at the event over the past twenty years.

"It takes about 400 volunteers to put on the festival, and every year we have groups that help with the really monstrous duties of tear down and set up and clean up and recycling and traffic control and all of those kinds of things, and we make a donation to their programs," said Arnone.

This year, the Soquel High School Girl's Water Polo team, the SHS Boy's Water Polo team, the SHS Girl's Softball team, and the Soquel High Music Foundation will all be volunteering at the festival and receiving a donation.

"So they rely on the festival too, because all of those programs are funded by the players and their parents, now. So it's really a beneficial event for the community," said Arnone.

The Capitola Art and Wine Festival began in 1982 with just 50 artists, and was called simply "The Capitola Village Art Festival." The following year, the Chamber took over and it's grown every year since then.

"Over the years wine was added and food was added and its grown to what it is today, and it's a juried show, which means that all of the artists participating in the show have been juried in," said Arnone.

Today, around 40,000 people flock to the Art and Wine Festival, and that number grows every year.

"It's such a fun festival and it's in such a gorgeous setting to be in Capitola Village, to be at the beach and be able to view art and sip wine, and it capitalizes on our best weather. It's just kind of our end of summer celebration," said Arnone.

There will also be a children's area with craft projects for the kids on both days.

"Its a festival, tell your friends, tell your neighbors, the more the merrier! That's what makes it a festival, is people," said Arnone.

Check out the entertainment schedule below to plan your day!

Entertainment Schedule

Saturday, September 8
Bandstand Stage at Esplanade Park
11 – 11:30AM Santa Cruz Dance Co
12 – 12:30PM No Limits Dance
1 – 1:30PM Elaine’s Dance Studio

Saturday Concerts:
2:30 – 4PM The Coffis Brothers
5 – 7PM Sam Morrison Band -
~ Award Winning Southern Rock Showcase ~

Sunday, September 9
Bandstand Stage at Esplanade Park
11 – 11:30AM Dancenter
11:45 – 12:15PM Santa Cruz Pipes & Drums
12:30 – 1PM Te Hau Nui Dance

Sunday Concerts:
1:30 – 3PM Extra Large
4 – 5:30PM The Fundamentals
~ Red Hot Rockin’ Soul ~

Saturday & Sunday
Street Performances
Corner of Capitola & Monterey Avenue
11:30AM – 1:30PM The Great Morgani
2 – 2:30PM Jetlag aka Rock Lerum

The Capitola Art and Wine Festival is Saturday and Sunday, September 8 and 9, from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., with Saturday's headlining band, The Sam Morrison Band, playing until 7 p.m. Admission is FREE!

There will be a FREE parking & shuttle operating from the Bank of America parking lot at the Capitola Mall on 41st Avenue. The free shuttle will run on Saturday from 9:30am – 9pm and Sunday from 9:30am to 7pm. The shuttle drops off at the entrance to the Festival.

Another free shuttle operates from the Crossroads Center on Bay Avenue from 10am – 8pm both Saturday and Sunday.