Lafayette Art & Wine Festival

This is a great street festival have been coming here for years. Good food, good beer and wine selections, free bands playing all day. A kids area, plenty of shopping and friendly people. I will address a couple complaints I read in reviews. Parking is free and not hard to find people. Park at the Bart station lots a short walk away. Yes it can get crowded midday walk along the store fronts if crowds bother you. Those sidewalks are less crowded then in front of the booths. There are a lot of food choices and if you find any you like there are dozens of good restaurants you can drop into none of which are usually busy. Price $ 25 for a souvenir beer mug or wine glass and three coupons so thats about 8 bucks for a quality beer and a mug its a fund raiser so get over the cost if its too much buy a 12 pack of Budweiser or a box of Carlos Rossi. OK off my soap box try it next year we always have a good time but half that is the attitude you go with :). Cheers

Love this festival. Unlike others they do not charge to get in. Yes, you can buy a glass and tickets to drink, but you also can just go into any one of their downtown restaurants and pubs and do your own thing. Great music and a mellow crowd. I took my daughter to the kid zone and she had a blast. Walking distance to Bart and free shuttles. A little hot this year but they were giving away free bottled waters.

Lafayette Art & Wine Festival is one of the more happening late summer events in the east bay and in my regular rotation each year. It’s convenient to take BART and walk right over. Art and other wares are of the same ilk as other local summertime festivals and I see many of my faves each time. It’s a nice crowd and fun to stroll. What sets this festival a cut above others is some of the music. I normally don’t care about whatever bands play at other fairs but at Lafayette each year, they manage to get some pretty fun 80’s cover bands. Each year I end up with some jewelry or candle purchases. The convenience factor is high, being I can just shoot on over from Walnut Creek, otherwise it’s hard to say if I’d drive far for it.
A few things to be aware of-it’s HOT, crowded and towards the end of the day a bit tough to navigate some of the more congested areas. Arrive with water, good spirits and lots of patience. Enjoy!

My favorite of all festivals for sure!
This is my second year attending the Lafayette A & W festival, and I have to say, compared to all the other festivals I have visited throughout the bay, this is by far my favorite.
First of all: It’s located in the heart of the one and only, fabulous d. t Lafayette; a town that is true to my heart, and a place I only wish I could live in; but alongside that, they always provide the most excellent art exhibitors; providing some truly exquisite art pieces for sell. The food vendors are just as phenomenal as well; providing your standard basics such as giant sausage dogs, zucchini chips; and even vendors catering to the more organic, sophisticated audience (and at a higher price tag), therefore providing a more gourmet selection such as: Organic fish and chicken dishes, lobster rolls… ect And, not to mention, some of the most FABULOUS wine vendors around, giving us the gracious opportunity to indulge in these delicious vinos.
The festival itself is free, however, If you want to indulge in all the tasty affairs, it does come with a slightly higher price tag. The wine/​beer drink ticket packages vary, and are certainly a tad more pricey than comparable festivals. For a signature wine glass to enjoy your tastings, it is $ 10.00 and from there, its $ 7.00 per drink ticket, however, you can get some good package deals that will save you a few bucks. I got the sig wine glass along with 3 drink tickets for $ 25.00. It also came with a sweet coupon book for local business within the Lafayette/​Danville area. Oh, and did I mention they offer free parking in the bart parking area, along with a FREE shuttle bus to chauffeur you back and forth from the fabulous affair… winner in my opinion :)
This last 2014 festival had SO much going on, and provided plenty of things to feast your eyes on. Some of my favorite artists that I have somewhat been following from other festivals, had some of their beautiful work for sell. I ended up getting a few beautiful pieces to add to my little home décor collection. The wine I indulged in was all superb! Ranging from some invigoratingly, fruity Chardonnays, to some citrusy fresh Sauvignon Blancs… all accommodated me perfect on the hot afternoon. As for food, at the beginning of the event, I decided to get a jumbo sausage dog @ a vendor called Big A#$% Sausage dogs. They provided mild or spicy dogs. I got one mild one without the bun, for $ 7.00. And you know, it was actually one BIG A#$@ DISAPPOINTMENT. Truly the only thing I did not enjoy at the festival. I have never been disappointed with a sausage dog EVER, but this one just tasted off… it honestly did not even taste like meat. I tried eating half of it, but almost gagged. Even the smell was off. I would had taken it back but didn’t want to go through the hastle. I ended up just throwing it away.yuck. Never again with them. But on another note, towards the latter part of the afternoon, I end up trying 2 lobster rolls for $ 10.00 (yes, pricey I know) provided by Lantern Catering. It was small in portion, though delectably good. Certainly made up for my not so good experience at Big A@# disappointing sausage dogs.
Overall, this is one event I will continue to frequent as the years come, and greatly look forward to its return next year.

A nice way to spend an afternoon. Hubby and I arrived about 1:30 and were lucky enough to find a vacant parking space behind a local business, but I think we were definitely the exception. Wine and beer prices were outrageous, don’t bother. I loved the sheer number of vendors that were showcased, but I wish more of the booths would have been focused on actual arts and crafts instead of plastic surgeons, chiropractors, and travel agents. This event should also be extended further down Mt. Diablo Blvd. The atmosphere would be that much better if people could get a little breathing room and not feel so smashed against their fellow festival-​goers. Not really a great event for kids, although I saw many families. There is very little for them to do and I would think it would be incredibly boring for them.

Not impressed. Parking was impossible. Very crowded. You have to buy a glass to have some Wine. You pay $ 25.00 for a glass and 3 tickets, but Wine is 2 tickets. One left over. You buy tickets at $ 7.00 each. = $ 25.00 for a glass of wine and extra ticket. I won’t return, the food was far and few in between booths. Very hard to navigate where the music was. I’ve gone in the past, it has gotten to be a horrible experience. I will stick to the smaller venue.

Parked at the east BART parking lot where the free shuttle bus picked you up on Deer Hill Road. Bus came right away and it was very convenient.
The Festival itself was pretty average. The usual booths selling the usual thing. I did notice that the local restaurants flanking the Festival were doing a great business. Big crowds.
We went to hear Foreverland, the Michael Jackson 14 piece tribute band. Huge crowd going wild. Foreverland was fabulous. When the show was over about 7p, we left for the shuttle bus. I guess the bus stops running after 7p because most of the booths had closed up for the evening. Fortunately, the walk back to BART wasn’t that long. I just wished they had informed us of the fact that the bus stops running after 7p.

it’s fun to go walk around. parking sucks but it always sucks in affluent communities. just look what happens at bishop ranch during the old fireworks show. every owner with a parking lot charges $ 20 for parking.
every year the glasses get smaller and the price goes up. best thing to do is pre-​drink before you go, or hit a bar down their.

As frequent festival attendees, my bf and I were curious to attend this one as we’ve attended many others around the bay area numerous times. Many of the bay area art and wine festivals are simply just that with minimal entertainment for the kids and even adults as far as live music goes. This festival had a pretty extensive selection of vendors and goods for sale. We enjoyed the largest selection of wines and beers to choose from and also food! There were also about 20 bands and three stages to enjoy the entertainment. We arrived early morning when the festivities began at 10, only intended to stay a few hours, but the great live music and joyous mood of people around us dancing, laughing and talking to us kept us there all day long! We enjoyed the live music from Aja Vu and the Sun Kings for most of the day– the Sun Kings being our favorite as a Beatles tribute band. Good times in Lafayette. This festival is now one of the more enjoyable ones on our list now! Awesome!

The sun came out from behind the clouds long enough for me, and a lot of other people, to enjoy this annual fair. The bad weather did not seem to keep people away
The fair is an eclectic mix of food, art, wine and music. There were also a lot of community booths. I saw a few things that I found interesting, but I have too much stuff and passed them by.
This is a two day event and well worth a stop; parking is difficult.

Disclaimer: I am not an owner or employee of the festival, but this is one of my most favorite festivals to do, as an art exhibitor. that’s why I do it, plus it is close to my Oakland studio. There’s a really nice, mellow vibe at this show, and fall is in the air. It’s just a very beautiful fun time, in a great little town. Truly, this is just a nice nice harvest season-​type street festival. See you there!
Harlan of
Space #465 at the 2013 Lafayette Art & Wine Festival

Art, food, entertainment, dancing, great wines and beers. No wonder it gets crowded and it’s difficult to find a place to park. The solution to both problems is to come in the morning by 11am and park at the Bart station. It’s not that crowded before 1 pm. It’s also not that far to walk. Besides, who doesn’t need the exercise? I’ve been going every year for ten years and there is always something new. If you are a people watcher you’ll have plenty to see. The secret is to go early and walk through the aisles before they are too crowded and before the day is too hot. Then hang around, listen to music, have lunch, and observe. It’s a great way to spend a day or at least a part thereof.

Best Fest in Contra Costa County! In gratitude to all the helpful smiling volunteers.
To the Lafayette Chamber and Acalanes School Dist, teachers, students, families and friends who support this winning event. The music is better than ever, Sun Kings you rock with your Beatle Music. The Food was Fabulous, I tried for the first time, «Yogi’s Cooking», congrats on gluten free, vegan food, the Pumpkin Ginger was to die for.
We never miss this Fest, join us next year for a marvelous time.

I’ve been to a lot of Art & Wine festivals, and this is the one I never ever miss! Lafayette is just so dang charming, and this festival has something for everyone. They shut down the main drag to put up the artsy booths, and there is a huge array of talent here. They do a nice job of making sure there is a variety of art… not 25 candle makers.
All the local restaurants seem to participate, and the food is great. There were gourmet munchies (i.e. figs & cheese) plus your usual festival food (corn dogs) for the die hard junk mongers.
One of the unique things here is the kids area. If you have little ones, there is everything from a climbing wall, bounce house, a real firetruck and lots of age appropriate crafts.
Live music, food, plenty of vino and sunshine. What could be better?
Oh, and another thing, when you attend you feel the sense of community. Just about every kid at the local high school is a volunteer in one way or another. I saw the Acalanes football team emptying garbage cans, the Lacrosse team selling waters, and the cheer team washing cars. When the community pitches in like this, you can’t help but to feel like you’re part of something special.

I gotta say, I’ve been to this festival many times over the years and it keeps getting bigger and better. But remember: This is Lafayette, folks… an upper middle class, dog-​friendly, fair amount of disposable income, but ultimately family-​oriented suburb. Consider the demographic and you’ll be prepared for what you find.
Yes, it’s crowded with lots of kids in strollers and dogs of all shapes and sizes… it’s a popular event for more than just the drinking crowd! Go when it opens and pretend it’s time for a drink (it’s 5:00 somewhere in the world, right?) or an hour before closing to avoid the worst of it. And the parking is difficult because of said popularity, but frankly, I’m glad that people are not encouraged to drive to and from an event that celebrates drinking. Taking BART is a no brainer and far safer… if you go out the *back* gates from the paid area, you’ll be a block from the festival site.
The level of the offerings for both drink and and art vendors has really gone up in recent years, so don’t look for cheap plastic crap or Franzia in a box. There are some very talented artisans displaying their wares at this festival… lots of beautiful jewelry, leathers, sculpture, etc. It’s not cheap. But the quality is far better than I’ve seen at other festivals of this ilk, so I’m thinking that this falls into the «you get what you pay for» category.
Along those lines, the process for getting your hands on the booze has put some people off… you have to buy an official festival glass, and then buy tickets to fill said glass. This means that you can be paying upwards of $ 11 if you just want one drink which is, I grant you, crazy. However, if you go on in a package of glasses/​tickets with a friend, it gets progressively less expensive. The better wines are in the Premium Wine tent and they’ll ask for 2 tickets per pour… this is not a bargain, but they had some lovely offerings in there. But there are also some very tasty less expensive options on the festival grounds… do your homework and you might find something you like that you can buy for less than $ 10 a bottle.
And don’t think there’s only wine… they had some kick ass beer this year which was awesome on a 90 degree day! But please do yourself a favor and don’t waste your tickets on Bud Light. You can buy a six pack of that at safeway and drink it before you come. If you’re coming to this event, splurge a little and expand your horizons: Try some of the craft brews. This year they had Speakeasy, Drakes, Black Diamond, Widmer, and Trumer pils among others, so there were plenty of good options that justified the ticket price. Plus, the people working the booths were a hoot this year… always good for a story, and some of them would even ice your glass for you if it got too warm. Now that’s service!
Can’t wait for next year!

One word: overrated. This was my first time going because I have been dying to go for years. We finally went and I can honestly say I won’t go back. The parking was insanely difficult. The festival itself was overcrowded – so crowded that I could have crawled through peoples’ legs faster than walking. Also, it was super-​small. There were only about a full block of booths… I would guess maybe 50 – 60. The booths were primarily handmade jewelry, and the wine selection was not up to my standards (I mean, we are REALLY close to the Napa Valley and have amazing selections from nearby AVA’s). Maybe I am a wine snob, but I would rather have a larger selection at an Art & WINE festival than a few booths of wines.
I highly recommend going to the Millbrae Art & Wine Festival instead. It takes the cake.

Great Festival. A ton of booths, great and friendly volunteers and booth workers. Food was great.
Highly recommend.

We had an awesome time at the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival!
Parking is kind of crazy, but we went on Sunday and were able to leave and come back and park in the «Paid Parking» on the street, twice. Yet it was free because it was Sunday.
It was an eclectic combination of booths with some food, art, and small local business all intertwined.
I didn’t drink but you have to have drink tickets, buy a wine glass or beer stein and have an arm band in order to participate in the drinking at the event.
Safeway gets my Gold Star of Approval for best booth because they had fresh Apples, Kiwis, Fruit Snacks and Odwalla Bars for get this… FREE!!! I piled a bag full of Kiwis that I’m still enjoying after a week. Thank you Safeway you rocked the fest big time.
Speaking of rocking the events. The Journey cover band could have fooled me because the lead singer sounded exactly like Journey. Me and Baby were bumping and grooving along to the rock’n Journey songs all afternoon.
I bought a really cute baby shirt with a screen print of an old school bicycle on it. I don’t remember what the shirt company is called but their prints were so cute. They were out of the little devil screen print that my husband wanted. So the bicycle print was our second pick.
Great event by the City of Lafayette and local businesses. We really enjoyed ourselves. Next year Baby R. will be sporting his little bicycle shirt and Ill be sport’n a beer stein. Boo Yaah!

It’s worth checking out at least once and if you are lucky enough to live within walking distance you should be checking it out every year and having a BBQ beforehand and inviting me.
Lafayette shuts down the major downtown section of main street for the festival… its only a block south of the BART station so many people can come out without worrying about drinking and driving. if you do drive in, get there early or just park on the skirts of town and walk in…
HIGHLY recommend going on Saturday. thats they day the festival is alive the most. when everyone is about… there are usually two music sections and a food fare for those inclined. for others they have many great restaurants in Lafayette, most within the Festival, its great… Metro and Amarin are favorites. Everyone is alive because most people dont work on Sundays and they are out to have a good time.
Sundays are still great days for those that dont like the intense crowds of people or being around A LOT of people in varying levels of drunkenness.
Its a lower key crowd that enjoys the festival in a slightly calmer way knowing Monday is just around the corner.

Delicious festival food (grilled artichokes… mmmm), art, crafts, wine, people watching, dogs… all things I love, so 5 stars!
It was so crowded, even on Sunday… so come later on, after 4 and it’s not so bad. I took bart too, which I think was smart, because I heard the parking was bad. Or park in the bart lot and walk down.