First came, the Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF), brokering the collision between wine, food and film. Two years later, in swoops Bottle Rock, swapping film for rock ’n’ roll with gaggles of headliners sure to make more than just heads roll in our ever-evolving valley. With more than 40,000 attendees projected to attend each day, this event could most definitely rock our world. The question is: Are we ready for it?
The event boasts more than 60 wineries paired with 60 of today’s hottest, multi-era appeal bands including The Shins, Wallflowers, Cake, Ben Harper, Brandi Carlile, Black Crows, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon and Bad Religion. The list feels endless—and borderline unbelievable—given the size of Napa County. All of that rock mojo will be contained, for the most part, within two walkable miles of the downtown riverfront. The Napa Valley Expo will serve as the epicenter of the event with four main stages, accompanied by events at the Uptown, Opera House and more than 30 VIP after-party locations sprinkled about town.
If the success of the NVFF is any indicator, Bottle Rock could mean big business for lodging, restaurants and wineries, which are bound to bubble over if projected attendance even comes close to actual.
Ticket prices vary widely, with four-day VIP passes going for $599 and one-day passes for $139. Individual performance tickets were also sold in some cases. Organizers featured a locals discount of $70 on various tickets and capped the number at 700, which sold out within the first hour of being offered.
For those who feel Napa might be treading close to Disneyland territory, given the chaos and influx of traffic a festival of this magnitude can conjure, this particular venture wasn’t devised from big biz a la Live Nation or Another Planet. Bottle Rock is a totally homespun affair spawned from local founders Gabe Meyers and Bob Vogt, who played a part in the resurrection of the Uptown. Talent was handled by Petaluma local Sheila Groves-Tracey and even festival general manager, Joseph Lillis, grew up in Napa. This show is brought to you by and for the people of Napa, though we can only assume its founders are banking on attendance well beyond the region.
To combat traffic concerns, the organizers are encouraging locals to make use of public transportation and shuttle service, as well as hoofing and biking it. They’re also working with the city (as of press time) on logistical details such as extra buses, closing off certain streets and opening up extra parking areas.
For those still not sold on the idea, there’s the feel-good factor: 10 percent of the net profits of the event will go to autism causes, with $6 of every ticket and $1 of every beverage sold going to nonprofit partners in the community like Friends of the Napa River and the Napa Land Trust.
With the NVFF descending in late fall and Bottle Rock now in late spring, it seems Napa’s seasonal slumps may be a thing of the past. The question is, will these mammoth seeds we’re planting now be the very ones we’ll later come to regret? Or will the economic boon to business be worth it? Only time will tell.
Small town Calistoga no more
Little old Calistoga is well on its way to getting a big business boot in the butt. First came the passing of Measure B in November 2012, which gave Colorado-based developer, Bald Mountain, permission to tear down and redevelop the existing Silver Rose Inn and replace it with an 84-room hotel, winery and 21 free-standing homes. Next came the city council’s approval of an expansion to the existing Indian Springs Resort, which could nearly triple in size with the proposed addition of 75 rooms. As if all that expansion wasn’t enough, another powerhouse development plan, Enchanted Resorts, was first unanimously approved by the city council in August, and officially approved by voters as Measure C in a March special election. Of the 2,261 registered voters, 1,426 voted, 781 in favor, 643 against.
The proposed Enchanted Resorts development entails a 110-room resort on 88 acres at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue, Foothill Blvd. and Highway 29. Some (though not enough to stop the measure from passing) feel the project is anything but enchanting with its spa, ballroom, restaurants, 20 fractional ownership houses and sites for 13 private houses—on top of the hefty room count.
Opponents, many of whom assembled under Save Our Small-town Calistoga (SOS), the same organization of locals that banded together to fight (and lose) Measure B, argue the project is in conflict with the General Plan and will destroy the small town nature and appeal of Calistoga. Another deterrent is the impact the resort will have on traffic, wildlife and the neighborhood at large, especially given the other approved expansions. This is all exacerbated by the fact that there’s been no mention of plans for increasing the levels of affordable housing in Calistoga. We can assume traffic will be impacted not only by an increase in visitation, but by resort workers, the bulk of whom will likely commute from other, more affordable, areas.
Supporters rallied around the projected gains the venture may afford, to the tune of $4 million dollars toward the city’s overall $7 million budget. Given the size and small-town feel of current-day Calistoga, it’s hard to begin to imagine the magnitude of impact these three expansions will have on the town and its locals.
Regardless of where you stand on all the expansion, one point we can likely all agree on is this: In much the same way that the quaint and quintessential Napa Valley experience is a distant memory, so too will be the once inherent, small-town charms of Calistoga.
