A Sip of Community
The annual Art and Wine Festival brings Lafayette together
By Jayden DiPrisco, Arielle Sears, and Sara Tsang, Print Arts Editor, Print Sports Editor, and Staff Writer
A warm September breeze carries the smell of freshly baked goods and the sound of jazz down Mt. Diablo Boulevard, drawing many locals and visitors onto the crowded, festive street.
The Lafayette Art and Wine Festival returned for its 29th year on Sept. 19 and 20, bringing together local vendors, businesses, and community members for one of Lamorinda’s largest community gatherings of the year.
Every year in September, Lafayette hosts the Art and Wine Festival, an opportunity for the community to come together and support local vendors, artists, and businesses. This year’s festival featured over 200 booths and 3 stages of local music.
“We've been bringing our community together to showcase our downtown, so we bring a variety of vendors to showcase and set up in Lafayette, from local artists to nonprofits to commercial vendors have lots of food and lots of family activities as well, but I think the overall purpose is to bring our community together and showcase our downtown,” Director of Operations at the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce Holly Sonne said.
Putting on the festival successfully requires months of planning and preparation by the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce.
“We actually try to start in January, but oftentimes we actually start beforehand because bands and vendors and food vendors are so eager to sign up for the following year that sometimes we're already working on the following year just a few days after the event ends …” Sonne said. “By the summer, we have all our vendor space booked, and we just work on fine-tuning and the marketing of it.”
Each year the Chamber of Commerce works hard to ensure a new and exciting event will happen for the community. Along with organizing the festival’s three stages, the Chamber also made changes to the way vendors were arranged this year.
“For years in the past, we've worked with an outside vendor to book a little less than 200 artists,” Sonne said. “This year the chamber is managing and booking all the vendors so it's giving us a little bit more flexibility to what vendors are here to bring diversity of different vendors. In the past, we've had a specific area called our local artist alley, but because we're managing all the events, we were able to disperse these local artists throughout the festival to make it a little more interesting for people to walk through.”
Beyond the booths, the festival’s three stages hosted singers, musicians, dancers, and many other performers. Several current Acalanes students were showcased, with the Acalanes Jazz ensemble taking the stage and performing a few songs they’d practiced in class.
“I think it went pretty well,” junior Kieran Ouk said. “It was kind of chaotic, but it sounded good in the end… One of the songs we played was a Stevie Wonder song, and that was my favorite.”
Other students were involved in more than just performances. Some of the booths highlighted Dons, such as the Cheer stand where the Acalanes sideline cheer team raised funds for their program while other cheerleaders walked around the festival and helped out.
“So there's a cheer stand, and then there's a cheer thing where you help out Lafayette Chamber of Commerce,” cheerleader and junior Shaelyn McCall said. “So you pick up trash, and you give out ice to different booths and stuff like that… And then at the cheer booth, you fundraise for cheer.”
There were over 200 vendors lining the streets, showcasing everything from handmade jewelry and baked goods to woodworking and photography.
“I love all the jewelry booths; I think they're really neat,” McCall said. “I've been to a couple of them, and all of them are really good quality. They’re waterproof and use natural pearls. But I also just feel like the booths are really nice with the community focus.”
The Art and Wine Festival provides a way for Acalanes students and Lafayette citizens alike to connect over food, creativity, and shared interests.
“I love it; it has a really supportive community,” Jaleh Bakery owner Zhaleh Boubehrezh said. “The city, the people, everybody that knows you or understands that you’re from there just wants to help you out or just be supportive, even if they can’t do it. So even just being a volunteer helps.”
