Fairs And Festivals In Santa Rosa, California

The city of Santa Rosa, in California is home to many wonderful fairs and festivals. Though this bustling suburban community is located in one of the worlds most popular destinations for wine aficionados, namely Sonoma County, it itself is not much of a wine producer, it is just near them. A few minutes north on highway 101 finds one in Windsor, home of Martinelli Vineyards, Russian Hill Estate Winery and a host of others. They are the tip of the iceberg and a subject for another post.

Santa Rosa, while not a wine center, has some tourist attractions of its own. The Luther Burbank Home and Gardens is a registered National Historic Landmark. Many food events would have some gaping holes in their offerings if not for the products of this precedent setting botanist. There is also the Charles Schultz Museum, for this is the city where the great cartoonist plied his trade from.

Did I say that Santa Rosa is not a wine center? Well, that’s not entirely true. For three days a year the Sonoma County Harvest Fair features  and food events of epic proportions. It is one of the most prominent of fairs and festivals in the area, as is the Harmony Festival. The Harmony Festival, while now focusing on the music aspect, also is one of the healthiest food events, with many vendors serving up the best in nutritious treats.

The Sonoma County Fair may be the biggest of fairs and festivals to take place in Santa Rosa, which is the biggest city in Northern California. It goes on for two weeks and is chock full of down home fun. The seventy-fifth annual fair, in 2011, featured a cattle drive through the city streets. The Handcar Regatta is one of the most esoteric food events and the newest in this brief line-up of fairs and festivals.