Whether you are planning to visit Napa Valley this summer or are a current resident, you’ll enjoy a wide variety of exceptional experiences. Napa Valley is uniquely blessed with venues and events centered on world-class cuisine, fashion, arts and culture, and, of course, world-famous wines. I’ve put together a guide to the best Napa Valley summer events to help guide you as you plan your calendar.
Your 2019 Napa Valley Summer Events Calendar
Festival Napa Valley
Festival Napa Valley is the premier destination for the best in performing arts, food, wine, and a celebration of all of the beauty and bounty that makes Napa Valley such an amazing place to live and play. With more than 200 artists, vineyards, resorts, chefs, and local businesses, over 60 events at 30 plus venues, you’ll experience once-in-a-lifetime sights, sounds, and flavors, all set against the backdrop of the stunning Napa Valley and its most iconic locales.
Concerts include genres from jazz, symphony, opera, ballet, and dance to Broadway with artists including Patti LuPone, Seal, Havana Chamber Orchestra, and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, fresh from his triumphant performance at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. One can’t-miss experience is the showing of Star Wars: A New Hope accompanied by a live orchestra at Lincoln Theater.
Taste of Napa
One of my favorite Napa Valley summer events is Taste of Napa, an opportunity to savor the best food and wine that Napa Valley has to offer, with a tasting village, artisanal market, and picnic space on the extraordinary grounds of Vista Collina. Enjoy music from DJ Marcus T and oldies from rock and roll party band Wonder Bread 5. This will be a highlight of the festival and is not to be missed.
Festival Napa Valley runs July 10 – 21, and you can experience Taste of Napa on July 13, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Napa Porchfest
Always held on the last Sunday in July, Napa Porchfest is a tradition that brings local bands and musicians out of the garages and onto the porches and lawns of homes in downtown Napa. Food vendors line up at Fuller Park to fuel this family-friendly summer event where the bands don’t go on tour – you do! Enjoy strolling and relaxing to the sounds of talented local artists as they fill the air with music. Plan your day by time, band, or genre and enjoy this unique opportunity to hear all of your favorites in one place on one afternoon.
Enjoy Napa Porchfest on July 28, from 12:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Rosé Fest
Head out to Sterling Vineyards hilltop winery for this year’s third annual Rosé Fest, featuring 30 plus wineries and many of the Bay Area’s finest restaurants. Start your day on the hill, then stroll down to the lawn where there will be more fabulous food, live music, and, of course, rosé. Be sure to check out the VIP access package, which is limited to 150 participants and allows early and exclusive access.
This event partners with the Susan G. Komen Foundation to support breast cancer education, research, and patient support, and is June 8, from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Murder Mystery on the Napa Valley Wine Train
On select dates this summer, you’ll have the opportunity to go all out as you enter the thrilling world of Prohibition-era mobsters. Dress up in your finest flapper finery or break out the pinstripe suit and fedora for a dinner you won’t soon forget.
The dining car on their vintage train will be transformed into an early-20th century speakeasy, with a multiple-course gourmet meal and a murder-mystery dinner show hosted by The Murder Mystery Company. What a fun way to become the star of your own detective novel!
Peju Grape Stomp
Whether you’re a true expert or just want to reenact your favorite Lucy and Ethel moment, the Peju Grape Stomp is where you want to be. With team and couple competitions, you can compete for the most juice and the top Peju Prize! Follow up all of that stomping with a gourmet farm-to-table luncheon prepared with locally-sourced ingredients. This is a quintessentially Napa way to welcome the harvest and get back to basics.
Sip and stomp on August 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
There’s Summer Events In Napa Valley for Everyone
There is so much to do and so many incredible places to see, and beautiful Napa Valley summer events really offer us incredible opportunities to enjoy our little piece of paradise. Spend some time this summer out and about, getting to know the best of the Valley and meeting your friends and neighbors at one of these extraordinary events.
Don’t miss my recent podcast with Festival Napa Valley COO, Sonia Tolbert, and find out what it’s like behind-the-scenes of this amazing affair. Learn about her favorite moments from past festivals, and the things she is most excited about this year.
I am thrilled to bring you this guide to the finest Napa Valley summer events. I live and love luxury, so if you’re looking for the quintessential lifestyle or the perfect Napa Valley vineyard and winery for sale, let me help you find the right setting for your extraordinary Napa Valley lifestyle.
