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Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival

The 111th Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival will fill this weekend with a celebration of Sonoma Valley’s bounty, community spirit and rich history. This year’s theme is Rootstock: A Blending of Time and Tradition. Therefore, it is fitting that the Bundschu family, whose ancestors hosted and played an important part in the first Vintage Festival in 1897, are to serve as this year’s Grand Marshals.

E.K. Excavating in their float designed to look like a vineyard worker with a grape gondola. Photo by Melania Mahoney.

The Vintage Festival kicks off with the Patron’s Night Gala at General Vallejo’s Historic Sonoma Barracks from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Sept, 26. The La Casa Grande Courtyard will be filled with folks partaking of the Valley’s finest wine and food prepared by local chefs. The Bundschu family of Gundlach Bundschu winery will be the guests of honor. Richard Olsen and his Orchestra will provide live music. Tickets are $75.
On Saturday, Sept. 27, Sonoma’s Plaza will come alive with an arts and crafts shopping area, children’s games, food and wine tasting and more, with activities continuing throughout the day on Sunday. Free musical entertainment will be offered both Saturday and Sunday, throughout the afternoon, on the Main Stage in the Plaza.
Festival organizers are expecting this year’s parade, which starts at noon on Sunday, to have more participants and spectators then ever before. Local organizations, school clubs, area businesses and other groups will circle Sonoma’s plaza on colorful floats, in classic cars or on foot. The Vintage Festival’s board will judge parade participants in a number of categories and award them in the Plaza Amphitheater soon after the parade ends.
New for this year, the Vintage Festival has teamed up with Green Mary, a waste management group founded by Mary Munat, to make the event more eco-friendly. As much waste as possible will be recycled, including food scraps and paper service supplies. Everyone is encouraged to bring his or her own glasses or bottles, which may be filled free of charge at any of the five water stations.
According to festival board member J.M. Berry, “Most consider 1897 the first year of the festival, when Benjamin Weed, who went on to found the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, performed his presentation of the Greek god Bacchus blessing a young couple’s wedding vows with a prayer for a bountiful grape harvest. The performance had nymphs, goatherds, and a variety of characters, and many members of the Bundschu and Gundlach families had roles to play.”
The history of the festival, which is the second-oldest celebration in California (Pasadena’s Rose Parade is the oldest), includes a few murky spots. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the Great Depression, Prohibition and two world wars slammed the valley’s wine business, and many vintners were put out of business. Land was used for other crops, so grape harvest celebrations may not have been a priority.
According to Berry, “Little record was kept regarding the ensuing years of the Vintage Festivals. In 1947, the event, billed as the, ‘Revival of the Vintage Festival.’ was put on by the Chamber of Commerce. Some say the festival was happening the whole time in some shape and form, but the structure of the festival as we know it today started then and since 1948 has always been on the last full weekend of September.”
The nonprofit Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival is organized by an all-volunteer board and benefits local nonprofits and community projects. This year’s primary beneficiaries are: the Native Sons of the Golden West Parlor #111; Sonoma Valley Little League; and Valley of the Moon Little League. Many nonprofit groups will be at the festival to raise money for their own causes.

For more information, registration forms and a complete schedule of events, go to www.sonomavintagefest.org.

Paul Wirtz of Oak Hill Farm, on his 1948 Farmall Super AV tractor. Photo by Melania Mahoney.

Saturday Sept. 27

Free Live Music

Noon    Joel Rudinow
1:05     Natasha James
2:15     Ten Foot Tone
3:30     Bautista

Plaza Events


10 am Blessing of the Grapes
Join Sonoma dignitaries and festival presenters at the historic Sonoma Mission for the Blessing of the Grapes, the traditional opening ceremony of the Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival.

11:30 am Bear Flag Revolt
Join us at the Sonoma Barracks for the exciting re-enactment of the Bear Flag Revolt, when 33 armed men rode into Sonoma Plaza and raised the first bear flag, declaring California and independent republic, free from Mexican rule.
Performed by Sonoma Historic Re-Creation Society.

2:00 pm Grape Stomp Competition
An important Sonoma Valley tradition for young and old!  Participate or enjoy the show as contestants bare their feet and stomp the grape in a competition to see who can produce the most juice! At the Grinstead Amphitheatre.

Sunday Sept. 28

Free Live Music

1:00     Madison Blues Band
2:15     The Whiskey Thieves
3:30     David Lindley

Plaza Events

8 am The Vintage Festival 5K Run
Starting at the Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery, runners will wind through the scenic back roads of Sonoma Valley.  Meet at 389 Fourth St. E. Register online at www.sonomavinfest.org, at the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau or 7 a.m., day of race. Call 707.996.2109 for more information or email Matt at 5krun@sonomavinfest.org.

11 am Historic Vallejo-Haraszthy Wedding
Come watch this beautiful re-creation of the historic wedding of General Vallejo’s twin daughters to the two sons of the flamboyant vintner Count Agoston Haraszthy.

11:30 am Bear Flag Revolt
See Saturday schedule for more information.

Noon- Vintage Festival Parade
A charming, uniquely Sonoma, hometown parade complete with floats, marching bands and all local participation.

1:30 pm The KSVY Bottle & Glass Dash
KSVY 91.3 Sonoma’s wacky relay race for teams of two down a historic Sonoma block. Fun to watch, even more fun to run. Racers – start your hula-hoops!  In front of Sonoma Barracks.

2:00 pm Grape Stomp Competition
See Saturday schedule for more information.

Bag pipers walking the parade route. Photo by Melania Mahoney.