24th annual Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival comes to town

By Leslie Tang, Town Crier Editorial Intern

The usually calm downtown Los Altos will be vibrantly alive this weekend, teeming with thousands of people from all over the Bay Area attending the 24th annual Arts & Wine Festival on Saturday and Sunday.

This year’s festival theme is “Good Old Summertime,” with some new features in store for festival-goers such as a Y3K Simulator - a computerized thrill ride in the KIDZONE - and “Volcano Cups.”

“Volcano Cups are a type of drink … kids are supposed to love them,” said Jane Bigelow, chairwoman of the festival.

The Los Altos Village Association (LAVA - no connection to the Volcano Cups) organizes the festival every year. The event began in 1979 as a way to create exposure for downtown businesses and to raise funds for downtown facilities, said Tim Garrett, executive director of the association.

“Our event has traditionally been one of the largest midsummer events in the Bay Area,” Garrett said. “We are honored to be listed by the Harris Survey as one of the country’s top 75 festivals.” Garrett said that this year Bay Area Parent magazine chose the Los Altos festival as the “Family Favorite,” Arts & Wine Festival.

The event features arts and crafts, wine sampling, tasty food and live entertainment.

“I just think it’s great fun,” said Dennis Ronberg, co-owner of Linden Tree Children’s Recordings and Books on State Street. “I think it’s one of the best art and wine festivals of the Bay.”

Ronberg said that during the festival weekend, fewer of the bookstore’s regular customers come into the store. However, the festival attracts new customers who have never been to the shop before. Ronberg said he is going to be at the festival all day as it features the Linden Tree KIDZONE.

David Morrow, co-owner of Baskin-Robbins, and Jamie Tomaselli, manager of Main Street Cafe and Books, said that their stores are very busy during the festival weekend.

“I think people will want to come in from the heat for an Italian soda,” said Tomaselli. The cafe staff will also be waiting tables outside during the festival weekend.

Morrow said that Baskin-Robbins will be fully staffed on the weekend to accommodate refreshment seekers. However, he also hopes to join in the fun. “We are going to try to take time out and send some people (staff) out,” he said.

“I love all the festivals,” Tomaselli said. “But I do think they need to change them up a little, maybe let some other vendors in.”

Despite booming business for refreshment and food venues during the festival celebration, many agree that retail stores do not fare quite as well.

“There are pluses and minuses (of the festival),” said Pat Jackson, owner of Ciana Inc., a salon and day spa. “It gives us visibility, but it does slow down (customer) traffic.”

Jackson said Ciana Inc. will probably be open only one day during the festival.

“Where they (retail stores) benefit is persons seeing their business and coming back later to purchase items or visit the stores,” said Bob Hatch, a longtime festival organizer and member of the Los Altos Village Association.

Hatch said the festival is unique, as it is “truly organized and staged totally by volunteers from the community.” Hatch said that most annual festivals hire year-round paid staff.

“Because we want as much money as possible to come back to downtown Los Altos, we do not hire festival staff,” Hatch said, “just the usual LAVA staff and a few part-time persons to organize the event.”

Garrett said the money raised at the annual festival is used to “promote and enhance the village.”

During the past year, the Los Altos Village Association has used the money to provide services to the community and sponsor traditional events such as the annual Easter egg hunt in April, downtown trick-or-treating for Halloween, Breakfast with Santa for Christmas, and the tree lighting ceremony kicking off the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. The association also hosts the weekly farmers market, held every Thursday during summer months on State Street.

“This year we are beginning to raise funds to make improvements in downtown Los Altos,” Garrett said. “We will raise funds to repaint the clock in the Community Plaza.”

Garrett and the association host a festival volunteer party today. They will accept donations toward the clock painting project.

Future projects the association hopes to tackle are repainting and repairing light posts, sidewalk cleaning, and new banners for the downtown area, he said.

The festival has changed and grown over the last 24 years. “The Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival has grown from an alley event to closing off the entire downtown,” Bigelow said.

“It is a way to show off Los Altos to our out-of-town guests, and there is much pride in our community,” she said. “I guess I might liken it to an old-fashioned country fair, where everyone is involved.”

The downtown Los Altos 24th annual Arts & Wine Festival is scheduled 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, on Main and State streets. For more information, see this week’s magazine insert.