Capitola Art and Wine on tap this weekend
The Capitola Art and Wine Festival filled Capitola Village with a sea of people Saturday.
Thirsty for local wines and hungry for good food, visitors and local residents packed the streets peeping in and out of vendor tents and greeting friends and neighbors.
One of the festival's original volunteers, Kathy Pratt, said the streets inside and outside of the event's grounds were full all day.
"High gas prices are helping us a lot this year with people staying locally," she said.
Crowds cruised through the tents of 16 wineries, 14 food vendors and past the 200 artists displaying their work at the 26th annual festival. More than 12,000 souvenir wine glasses were ordered for the event, according to Toni Castro, CEO of the Capitola-Soquel Chamber of Commerce.
Proceeds are distributed among New Brighton Middle School, Soquel High School sports and music programs and the upcoming Santa Cruz Triathlon.
Castro, while carrying a blue heron statue her mother bought from a vendor, said there is something for everyone at the festival.
"It is just a beautiful weekend with great entertainment, and a lot of talented artists," she said.
Craig and Stacy Lawrie volunteered for the first time this year after coming to the festival for the past eight.
"We asked people where they were coming from, just what zip code or city," Lawrie said. "The person that came the furthest for me was a student from Zambia that came down with local friends. There's no zip code there!"
About 20 percent of the artists selling their work are new this year, said Capitola Councilman Michael Termini. He estimated more than 20,000 people came to the festival Saturday.
"You can almost guarantee 20,000 every year," Termini said. "It's great. We get them drunk all weekend and there is never a problem or any arrests."
The Saturday events went very well, according to Central Fire Capt. Patrick Sharp.
"There was only one incident, and that was a case of heat exhaustion," Sharp said. "We're expecting less of a crowd for Sunday."
Many visitors preferred the weather along the Capitola coast compared to the heat of further inland cities.
"This is our fourth year coming to the festival," said Jahanne Gaver of Hollister. "We wanted to see any new vendors, besides the fact that it is 103 degrees in Hollister; plus there's nothing to do there."
"I love this festival and working with the Chamber of Commerce," said Zayante Vineyards owner Kathlene Starkey. "The combination of the sea and the high quality of the art always brings people back."