NAPA — BottleRock Napa Valley returned this Memorial Day weekend, drawing a sold-out crowd of 40,000 fans each day to wine country.
The hip hop supergroup Mount Westmore made up of Bay Area artists E-40, and Too Short and Southern California favorites Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg got the crowd moving Saturday night. You could feel the energy among the fans as the group blasted hit after hit.
Their performance was just one of the big draws of the festival.
Singer Pink was among the star-studded line-up on the culinary stage, where she took part in a blindfolded taste test.
“I’m excellent!” enthused Abra Winn of Las Vegas, who was attending all three days of the festival for the first time.
“The people here, the different styles of music on all the different stages, I found a new artist, Delta from Australia. She was so, so good.”
“It’s more chill. Everybody’s in a good mood,” said Drew Shaver of West Virginia.
BottleRock brought in out of towners and locals alike. Dishes from some of the Bay Area’s finest gourmet restaurants were on display.
“A day in sales here, we are pushing at least $11,000 to $15,000 a day. So from the morning that we get in all the way ’til nighttime,” said Esmeralda Valenci of Azalina’s Malaysian Restaurant.
BottleRock means big business for restaurants struggling to emerge from the pandemic, like Azalina’s from San Francisco.
Last year’s BottleRock was pushed to Labor Day Weekend, when the festival still required proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test. This year there were no restrictions.
“It was so weird being back last time. It felt great to get out of the house, but it was just so different but now it’s like we’re back, it’s where we’re supposed to be,” said Doug Whitlow aka DJ Tyme. “It’s food, it’s music it’s BottleRock, I’m just so happy.”
DJ Tyme performed during Saturday’s silent disco party.
For the first time ever, BottleRock set up a space called The Garden which featured educational cannabis vendors.
For regular festival goers, the overall mood was a familiar one of excitement and joy. The festival comes to a close Sunday night.
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