The sounds of music and laughter will soon take over the fields of the Napa Expo as BottleRock returns next weekend. This year the musical acts include Post Malone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lizzo, Duran Duran, Lil Nas X, The Smashing Pumpkins and more! But as always BottleRock is more than just a music festival in the heart of Wine Country in Napa Valley, it’s about local restaurants and sweets vendors showing off their culinary experiences, wineries and breweries bringing their mouthwatering treats and how they all blend together to make a fantastic weekend for all those who attend.
BottleRock Napa Valley started in 2013 and is back for its 10th edition, and this years festival looks to continue the rich tradition in which music and food combine to offer the best of Napa Valley for three days at the Napa Valley Expo. With five stages of music, and over 75 musical acts music will fill the air from noon to 10pm Friday May 26th through Sunday May 28th. With the musical acts over lapping and stages spread from corner to corner of the expo you may want to plan your weekend ahead of time so you get to see your favorite acts, but also experience some new bands you may have not heard of before!
Back again for its 8th year is the William Sonoma Culinary stage, which provides a unique experience for the festival goer – and really provides what BottleRock Napa Valley is all about. You get a music superstar like P!NK who headlined last year with a renowned chef like Marcus Samuelsson, throw in a little local flavor with a hometown hero in 49ers tight end George Kittle give them a stage, some ingredients and some instruments and you get magic. You shouldn’t wait to see what is cooked up here this year … this is always one of the fan favorite spots to check out as you can get up close and personal with the favorite artists in a fun way.
This year will see over 17 local Napa Valley wineries including Caymus Vineyards and Jam Cellars pouring glasses of Cabarnet Sauvignon to Chardonnay to Rose and everything in between. “We love BottleRock, and it’s a great fit for us at Caymus,” said Don Wetherell of Caymus Vineyards. “We aren’t there just to pour wine, but to put a name, and a family behind it … since we are a local family owned winery.” Caymus will be in three locations this year, in the Platinum section, in the general area, and they will have their own bar in the VIP area next to the Verizon Stage, “We are really excited with the sponsorship bar this year and to be in the Platinum area as well pouring our famous cab,” said Wetherell.
Continuing with the suds, six breweries including Lagunitas and Hop Valley will be present. “We will be showing off a new Island Beats 19.2oz large format can for BottleRock with Limited Artwork,” said Hannah Dray from Lagunitas. “We will also be serving drafts of our fan favorite IPA, DayTime and Waldo’s.” As well there will be eight spirit companies including Hendrick’s Gin and Monkey Shoulder Scotch Whiskey who will all be pouring some of their finest sips for you and have some fun activations as well such as the Hendrick’s Three Story Bar and the Monkey Shoulder secret “porta-party”.
For those who want a non-alcoholic drink Lagunitas will be providing their Hoppy Refresher sparkling water, and they’ve scheduled to give out over 8,000 cans for free! So make sure to go check out their activation which will also have a nice viewing area for the music as well. “We want to continue our amplification of music … and the Hoppy Refresher is great for BottleRock,” said Dray. “It’s a night extender, a great mixer for cocktails, but for this event it’s great … you can drink it from the time you wake up to when you head home.” Other non-alcoholic choices include Liquid Death who will be sponsoring “The Club”.
For those late morning, afternoon and evening meals or snacks there will be plenty to choose from this year as BottleRock got 57 local restaurants, bakeries, and vendors to bring their tasty bites to the festival. Among the ones you should check out this year include Napa Yard, It’s Always Sunny Sorbet and Brewed. Chef Daniel from Napa Yard has been part of the Napa Community for years, and just launched a new restaurant in San Francisco called Taco Rouge. He is going to be doing a joint venture between the two for BottleRock and serving tacos, ceviche, agua frescos and popsicles. “We thought this would be the best food for the festival, we want to move the line fast … you don’t want to be standing in line for hours … we are here to get you your quick fix,” said Chef Daniel of Napa Yard. “Our birria and al pastor tacos are great, but if you want something lighter get the ceviche.” If you need some food before the festival they will be open for brunch every day as well.
If you’re looking for something to cool you down when the warm weather takes a hold, Napa local Matt McMann from It’s Always Sunny Sorbet has what you need with strawberry, raspberry and lemon sorbet. “We are going to have three days of perfect weather this year (fingers crossed) and sorbet is a perfect treat for everyone at the festival,” said McMann.
Another sweet choice you have is with Brewed, another Napa locally owned company, run by Lisa Saunders is bringing cookies, cookie dough and energy drinks! “Our energy drinks we are bringing are plant based, it’s an energy concentrate and you mix it flavors and sparkling waters,” said Saunders. “We will have the best cookies … chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, sugar, white chocolate macadamia nut … but we also have cookie dough to try too!”
There are more fun activation areas at BottleRock, “The Garden” which is all about cannabis, and you can meet local vendors, play games and win prizes. Another long running one is “The Spa” where you can get your haircut, a massage, do a rapid recovery hydration refuel or buy jewelry. Additionally, there are several art installations throughout the festival grounds which make a perfect insta-worthy photo moment to share you fun weekend.
Getting to and from BottleRock Napa Valley has never been easier than this year as the festival has curated shuttle and hotel packages from Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco and Santa Rosa which start at $159. Parking is available near the festival grounds as well, and is still available on a first come first serve basis starting at $45/day. BottleRock is sold out this year, but for more information on BottleRock Napa Valley or to buy tickets on the exchange, you can visit their website online at www.bottlerocknapavalley.com
