Page 14 | Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties

Mo Babiker, aka DJ Fayad Moss, Producer at Trance Goats

Locals

Aug 4, 2026

Mo Babiker, aka DJ Fayad Moss, Producer at Trance Goats

Without knowing what trance music is, this article can be read—but it cannot be comprehended.

So let us begin with an attempted definition, drawn from a classic track: Adagio for Strings by EDM producer Tiësto. One should spin it. The track begins abruptly, with high and low end attacks of rolling precision drums. Wherever they are, physically or emotionally, suddenly one is up and running (in an earthquake).

The BPMs for trance music, which sync one’s heartbeat, are up around 150—a high-intensity workout. As the track builds to an almost unbearable intensity of pleasure-pain, the drums suddenly drop away, and one is launched into the swelling ambience of Adagio for Strings (by composer Samuel Barker). The chip-based reproduction soars with all the original orchestration’s gothic majesty and melodrama. It’s ecstatic.

Now, imagine dancing hard to that track in a dark and laser-lit hall with beautiful strangers briefly unified in the grip of that hypnotic sound. One can now understand something of trance and why it took over the world in the year 2000. And why it’s having a Y2K revival. And why Mo Babiker, Evan Schram and Kooi have consistently sold out shows since launching Trace Goats in February.

However, their success would not be possible without the trance collective’s consistent professionalism or ability to cultivate a new trance community rapidly coming into existence locally.

Cincinnatus Hibbard: Mo, I produce locally, and your production quality—from marketing on—is several cuts above the rest.

Mo Babiker: Well, I am a quality engineer (laughing). Evan and Kooi are also electrical engineers. Personally, I am a radio frequency engineer, and I work in quality assurance for medical equipment.

Engineer connotes technical precision. Like most DJs, you are exacting audiophiles—what sound equipment do you use?

We always use the highest fidelity sound systems available. We collaborate with the biggest names in sound like Funktion and Void. Those systems are built mainly for big music festivals and cost a quarter million dollars to buy—we rent them (laughs).

Elaborate on your production quality—light and smoke, etc.

Our lights and lasers are to the highest standard too. We give our music lists to Kooi, who is our visual show engineer, so he can render projection visuals from scratch for each event. Each event has a different theme—one month we did an ‘underworld’ theme to capture that gothic feeling of ’90s underground warehouse raves; the next we did an ‘alien invasion’ rave theme.

We have our own dance company, Lucid Dancers, led by Elizabeth Beaty and Brittany Radke, who also models for our promo materials. After shows, we always get messages from artists [dancers and flow artists] that want to perform. We tell them, feel free to come up on the stage at some point in the night and dance. And at each event, we always have a DJ up from the crowd that never had a chance to DJ before, and have them perform. We always pay them too.

Your answer segues into the cultivation of your following into a community. Mo, with consistent sell-outs, there is some call to graduate your scale and ambition.

In fall of 2027, we want to produce a two-day festival at one of the fairgrounds. We are calling it ‘The Big One.’

Learn more: Follow their instagram @trancegoats. Trance Goats have dance events each 3rd Saturday at rotating venues. Aug. 22, they will be bringing Bay Area trance legend MARS to Vintage Space in Santa Rosa. Ten percent of ticket sales always go to a local charity.

The Owl and the City: ‘Wild Inside’ Lands Flaco at Rialto

Daedalus Howell

Aug 4, 2026

The Owl and the City: ‘Wild Inside’ Lands Flaco at Rialto

The culprit was never found. The owl, however, was suddenly everywhere.

In February 2023, somebody entered the Central Park Zoo with bolt cutters, opened the enclosure of a Eurasian eagle-owl named Flaco and inadvertently—or perhaps inevitably—created a New York legend.

Penny Lane’s new documentary, Wild Inside, follows Flaco from his bewildering first appearance on a Fifth Avenue sidewalk through an improbable second life above Manhattan.

Born in captivity and housed at the zoo for 13 years, he entered the city with the résumé of an apex predator but almost none of the applicable experience. He could barely fly. He had never hunted. He belonged to another continent. Yet Flaco learned. He hunted rats, strengthened his wings, explored neighborhoods and eventually claimed the city’s water towers, fire escapes and rooftop machinery as his own unlikely kingdom.

This cinematic chronicle is part wildlife documentary, part urban fairy tale and part philosophical inquiry into captivity, freedom and ultimately an unlikely symbol of transcendence that captured the hearts and minds of a city.

Lane, whose previous films include Hail Satan?, Listening to Kenny G and Confessions of a Good Samaritan, recognized Flaco’s arrival—literally out of thin air, outside Bergdorf Goodman—meant that he would be her next cinematic subject.

“I was watching a zoo animal transform into a wild animal,” Lane said of the bird with pumpkin-orange eyes and a six-foot wingspan. “This has never been seen before.”

Wild Inside is assembled from Lane’s own filmmaking and a vast trove of material gathered by birders, residents, tourists and amateur Flaco correspondents. The owl may be the most documented member of his species in history, and the movie turns that abundance into something intimate and comprehensive. New York itself becomes a production partner: its bodegas, museums, barbershops, preschools, tattoo parlors and apartment windows all become pitstops in Flaco’s story—particularly the window.

During one phase of his roaming, Flaco began perching on air conditioners and fire escapes, peering into apartments at the people inside. After years of being watched in a cage, he seemed to reverse the arrangement.

“It was as if he was looking at us,” Lane recalled.

That reversal gives the film much of its emotional voltage. Flaco is both a wild animal and former zoo resident, a creature habituated to people but answering instincts he’d never used. The New Yorkers who encounter him respond with awe, protectiveness and projection. Some see liberation. Others see an animal placed in mortal danger by a reckless human act. Many see both.

Lane does not flatten those contradictions. Wild Inside understands that freedom can be magnificent without being safe, and that human stewardship often slips into human dominion. The question is not simply whether Flaco should have been free, but what obligations follow once freedom has been forced upon him.

Still, Flaco is almost comically easy to love. He becomes a celebrity, a civic mascot and an airborne symbol of liberation and liability.

“This is my eighth feature documentary, but I’ve never had an easier time getting an audience to root for my main character,” Lane said.

Wild Inside is funny, transporting and, ultimately, devastating. Expect heartstrings tugged by talons.

Starts Friday, Aug. 7, at Rialto Cinemas, 6868 McKinley St., Sebastopol. rialtocinemas.com.

Shakespeare’s ‘Caesar’ Tours Sonoma County

Caitlin Strom-Martin

Aug 4, 2026

Shakespeare’s ‘Caesar’ Tours Sonoma County

The players of the Jacobethan Theatre Workshop remained flexible and adaptive last week as the Woodside Fire forced the usually-outdoor troupe indoors. Scheduled to perform in the meadow adjacent to the parking lot at 6th Street Playhouse, they had to relocate first to 6th Street’s Monroe Stage and then to its GK Hardt Theater due to the low air quality.

Despite the change of space, the cast was high energy and very much into the stab-happy tale of Julius Caesar, William Shakespesare’s violent take on the downfall of the famed ruler. The tragedy moves from Santa Rosa to Sonoma and then Petaluma over the next two weekends through Aug. 16.

The story of Julius Caesar (solid David Noll) is well known and contains some of the more iconic monologues and one-liners (“Friends, Romans, Countrymen…”) that have diffused into modern English parlay just as smoothly as any of Shakespeare’s turns of phrase, and the ensemble handles them pretty well. Notable work is by Katherine Mazer as Portia and Lydia Revelos, making some strong choices with hysteria as the oft underplayed Calpurnia. Both Mazer and Revelos give energy and commitment to their small scenes.

Lukas Raphael (Mark Antony) attacks his “Let loose the dogs of war” speech with righteous anger and intensity, while Amanda Vitiello, playing a female Cassius, imbues her “Colossus” monologue with a heartfelt conviction that belies the subtle but powerful relationship between her and loyal, steady Brutus (Jesse Jensen, with a clear command of Shakespeare’s language and meaning).

The relationship between Cassius and Brutus reveals itself to be the heart of the story as Vitiello and Jensen play it, and this grounds the tale in a nice shade of gray humanity. We’re left to decide whether their actions are justified and if the repercussions of said actions were worth it in the end.

A lot of the humbly produced, bare-bones (this may be the only free theater that Sonoma County has to offer regularly) but proudly presented production worked for this reviewer, though there was a sad lack of gore that I usually relish from Shakespeare’s darker works. The violence is so prevalent in Caesar that it seems like a missed opportunity to not really revel in it. Stylistic choices were made instead, which will undoubtedly work for many audience members.

It’s a pleasure to recommend this production to those who want to support hard-working actors and their craft.

Jacobethan Theatre Workshop presents ‘Caesar’ on Aug. 8 and 9 at the Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. Napa St., Sonoma, and on Aug. 14–16 at Life on Art, 133 Copeland St., Petaluma. Fri. and Sat., 7:30pm; Sun., 3pm. Free. Reservations encouraged. jacobethan.org.

Folk, Yeah—Ani DiFranco Brings the Fun to GunBun

Music

Bill Forman

Aug 4, 2026

Folk, Yeah—Ani DiFranco Brings the Fun to GunBun

As Ani DiFranco sings on her latest album: “I defy being defined.”

She adds, “I’m not black or white or gray / I’m not he or she or they / I’m not gay or bi or straight / I’m just me, and maybe that’s just another thing to say.”

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg for a Grammy-winning artist who performs Aug. 16 at the Gundlach Bundschu Amphitheater in Sonoma.

In and out of the public spotlight since she began performing as a solo artist 20-plus albums ago, the Buffalo, New York native has been described in the press and elsewhere as a protest singer, folk revivalist, feminist icon, riot grrrl pioneer, spoken-word artist, DIY label owner and more.

And now, as DiFranco crosses the country on her current tour, she can add Broadway actor, children’s book author and full-on bandleader to the list. In these shows, she’ll be playing fan favorites alongside songs from her latest album, Unprecedented Sh!t, which boast a distinctly different sound than the more stripped-down approach she’s taken on past albums.

“I’m notorious for producing my own records, and most of them are recorded live in the studio,” said DiFranco, who has also produced albums for a number of artists on her Righteous Babe record label. “I had a co-producer maybe once along the way, but I just wanted to change it up and bring in more of a 21st century sensibility.”

To that end, DiFranco handed the production reins over to BJ Burton, a producer, engineer and mixer with a diverse clientele that includes Bon Iver, James Blake, Low, Lizzo and Charli XCX.

“BJ brought a whole new sonic element to this record, and that’s what I wanted,” noted DiFranco, who now lives in New Orleans. “There’s a whole new world of technology and possibility when it comes to making records, and I wanted to work with somebody who lived in that world and understood it.”

The production on the album’s title track is a prime example, one that initially took time to get used to. “It’s always shocking when someone takes something you made and then changes it,” explained DiFranco, who recorded the song at home alone with vocals, guitar and “little whistles and things.” “Then I sent it to BJ, and he filtered and contorted it, as he does. He cranked it up, shoved it through a bunch of gear and, you know, there it was.”

With its unlikely mix of acoustic folk and borderline industrial elements, “Unprecedented Sh!t” has since been hailed by critics as one of the artist’s best and most eclectic since 2003’s “Evolved.”

Production notwithstanding, Unprecedented Sh!t remains true to DiFranco’s artistic and political roots as both a musician and lyricist. “I think we should have a new bible that just says: mother earth,” she sings on the new album, “and I think men should stand down when women give birth.”

DiFranco speaks reverently about artists like Woody Guthrie, Odetta and the many others who’ve followed in their wake.

“I’ve always called myself a folk singer proudly,” said DiFranco, who recorded two albums with the legendary Utah Phillips. “I would so much rather be hanging out with the old lefties—you know, the radical anarchists, the Wobblies and socialists and rabble rousers—than in so many other places I’ve found myself in life and in music. I think it’s cool how the template that Woody and so many others helped establish continues to spread the stories that are not told in the official history books, the ones that you’re not necessarily taught at school.”

DiFranco made her own contribution to childhood education in 2024 with Show Up and Vote, a picture book aimed toward future voters between the ages of three and six.

“Yeah, it’s playing the long game, for sure,” DiFranco said. “One of my reasons for writing it was to give parents an occasion to talk to their kids about voting and its role in being a citizen and being part of society. That’s always been one of the main issues burning in me, to try to inspire and encourage people to participate and vote.”

In other extracurricular activities, DiFranco spent six months in New York in 2024 playing the role of Persephone in Anais Mitchell’s Broadway musical, Hadestown. Her connection to the play goes back more than a decade.

“Anais gave me a cassette tape of a live recording of the proto Hadestown show being performed in Vermont by herself and a group of her compadres up there,” DiFranco recalled of the show’s origins. “As she said, ‘Here’s this concept album that I want to make. Can you help me produce it?’ So I was sort of there at Hadestown’s conception. And God bless her. I couldn’t believe how long she stuck with that project and how much she put into it.”

While other artists on Righteous Babe may not reach her level of success, DiFranco is proud of her label and its mission.

“We want to help our young artists have sustainable careers in music, to quit the day job and dedicate themselves to art,” DiFranco noted. “We’re certainly not the star-making machinery here. But I think there are plenty of examples in the folk-roots underground where you don’t have to make a killing, but you could make a living.”

Ani DiFranco plays from 6:30 to 9:30pm, Aug. 16, at the Gundlach Bundschu Amphitheater, 2000 Denmark St., Sonoma. Tickets and more information at gunbun.com/event/ani-difranco-concert.

Your Letters, Aug. 5

Letters to the Editor

Weeklys Staff

Aug 4, 2026

Parking Lark

Parking in Sonoma County has become a feast-or-famine proposition, except the feast is usually happening somewhere you aren’t.

In Petaluma, finding a downtown parking spot now requires the patience of a monk, the eyesight of a hawk and the predatory instincts of someone circling a Costco sample tray. Drivers creep along at 4 miles per hour, scanning for brake lights and preparing to duel anyone who appears to be walking toward a parked car.

Sebastopol is no better. Parking there feels less like transportation infrastructure and more like an escape-room challenge. You may enter town freely, but whether you can ever stop the vehicle remains unclear.

Then there is Santa Rosa, where parking garages seem to reproduce when nobody is looking. The city has accumulated so much parking that it is reportedly getting rid of a garage. How extravagant you are, throwing away parking like that.

I propose we simply rename the experience. In Petaluma and Sebastopol, we are not “looking for parking.” We are participating in a mobile scavenger hunt. In Santa Rosa, meanwhile, drivers are touring an extensive collection of available concrete.

Somewhere between no place to park and more parking than anyone apparently needs, there must be a happy medium. Please tell me so.

Cassady Caution
Petaluma

Kapow

If you wish to catch up on your summer reading, may I suggest DC Finest: Wonder Woman: Enter the Cheetah, a reprinting of classic Wonder Woman comics from the 1940s.

In the first story, “Amazon Unbound,” originally published in July 1943, Wonder Woman fights Dr. Psycho, a depraved lunatic criminal mastermind whose bunkum is believed by millions.

Dr. Psycho holds a seance and summons a fake George Washington made of ectoplasm who spews forth Dr. Psycho’s perverted and self-serving version of the American narrative, chock-full of straight white male supremacist propaganda. But, in reality, Dr. Psycho and his evil henchmen are Nazis. Sound familiar?

David Madgalene
Windsor

Strategy of Strife: When Diplomacy Becomes Part of the War

Open Mic

Sophia Gonzalez

Aug 4, 2026

Strategy of Strife: When Diplomacy Becomes Part of the War

On July 10, President Donald Trump announced something that should have stopped Washington in its tracks: The United States would continue negotiations with Iran, but the ceasefire was over.

That announcement does not describe a temporary contradiction. It describes an emerging doctrine.

For generations, Americans were told that diplomacy and war were different roads. Diplomacy was supposed to keep armies from moving, create room for compromise and end violence already underway. Military force, by contrast, was the failure of that process—or at least its last resort. The Trump administration is erasing that distinction. It is treating talks and attacks as instruments that can be used at the same time, against the same country, for the same political objective.

The result is diplomacy without peace.

Listen to the language coming from Washington. Talks are no longer presented as a protected space where violence is suspended so difficult choices can be made. They are presented as another deadline, another test of obedience, another brief interval before the next strike. The question is rarely, “What would make an agreement durable?” It is more often, “How much pressure will force an agreement now?” That may produce a signature. It does not necessarily produce peace.

There is a familiar argument behind this approach: Bombing creates leverage, leverage produces concessions and negotiations provide a respectable place to collect them. But this logic quietly changes the purpose of diplomacy. Once that happens, war no longer interrupts diplomacy. War becomes part of diplomacy’s normal machinery.

This is dangerous for a simple reason: Negotiations require some minimum belief that restraint will be reciprocated. When one side is talking while also striking, blockading and publicly threatening more destruction, every diplomatic exchange takes place under a ticking clock. A proposal is no longer judged only on its merits. It is judged under fear of what may be hit next.

Real diplomacy should reduce the role of force, not normalize it. A serious negotiating strategy would begin with a durable ceasefire, clear limits on military operations, congressional authorization for any continued hostilities and sustained mediation through credible third parties.

Those are not gifts to an adversary. They are safeguards against turning perpetual war into standard procedure.

The administration wants credit for talking while it keeps bombing. Americans should demand a higher standard.

Sophia Gonzalez is an American political analyst focusing on U.S. strategy, Middle East affairs and global security.

Swap, Sip, Stroll and Dance

Crush

Weeklys Staff

Aug 4, 2026

Point Reyes Station
Swap, Don’t Shop

Growing kids have a way of outgrowing everything except one’s budget. Marin Community Free Swaps offers a sustainable alternative with its seasonal Kids’ Fall Clothing Swap, where families can exchange gently used children’s clothing, shoes, backpacks, baby gear and school essentials—no purchase necessary. The volunteer-run event operates on a simple philosophy: Bring what one can; take what one needs. Whether one is donating, browsing or both, the swap keeps usable items out of the landfill while helping neighbors prepare for the school year and cooler weather. Strollers, furniture and toys can be left at home—they’ll have their own day. 10am–noon, Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Dance Palace Community Center, 503 B St., Point Reyes Station. Free. More information at taplink.cc/mcfs.

Healdsburg
Festa Italia

A taste of Italy arrives in Dry Creek Valley when Festa Italia di Healdsburg returns to Orsi Family Vineyards for an afternoon celebrating California-grown Italian grape varieties. More than 15 wineries will pour wines inspired by Italy’s legendary vineyards, while San Francisco favorite A16 fires up wood-oven pizzas, fresh seasonal salads and cannoli alongside handcrafted gelato from Gio Gelati. The festival pairs food and wine with live music and relaxed Wine Country hospitality, proving that Italian tradition has found a comfortable second home in Sonoma County. General admission tickets are available at a discounted rate with the promotional code EARLYBIRD26. Noon–3:30pm (VIP admission 11am–noon), Sunday, Aug. 16, at Orsi Family Vineyards, 2306 Magnolia Dr., Healdsburg. Tickets and more information at festaitaliahbg.com.

Petaluma
Living Earth

Australian artist Tracy Marie Shapland sees landscapes less as places than as emotional states. Her new exhibition, VISIONS OF THE LIVING EARTH: where the land remembers us, transforms the walls of Usher Gallery into a colorful meditation on memory, travel and the natural world, blending botanical forms, wildlife and imagined environments inspired by both Western Australia and Northern California. Working intuitively rather than from rigid plans, Shapland creates vibrant paintings that celebrate the connections between people, place and imagination. The opening reception offers a chance to meet the artist while enjoying local wine, refreshments and live music by the Loralee Christensen Combo. Exhibition runs Aug. 11–Sept. 6 at Usher Gallery, 1 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma. Opening reception 5–8pm, Saturday, Aug. 15. Free. More information at ushergallerypetaluma.com.

San Rafael
Downtown Dance

Downtown San Rafael becomes one big dance floor when Dancing Under the Lights returns for its third annual celebration of music, food and community. Fourth Street closes to traffic and opens to live entertainment, beginning with young performers from School of Rock before free salsa lessons with Salsa Dance Marin get everyone moving. The evening culminates with Bay Area party band Neon Velvet, while local restaurants, food trucks, craft beer from Pond Farm Brewing Co., Far West Cider Co. cider, an artist marketplace and family activities keep the festivities going between songs. Whether one is there to dance or simply soak up the summer atmosphere, it’s a lively reminder of what makes downtown San Rafael shine. 5–9pm, Friday, Aug. 7, on Fourth Street between A Street and Lootens Place, San Rafael. Free. More information at downtownsanrafael.org.

Local Hand at the Helm: Jason Nutt Appointed as Santa Rosa Interim City Manager

Daedalus Howell

Aug 4, 2026

Local Hand at the Helm: Jason Nutt Appointed as Santa Rosa Interim City Manager

Santa Rosa is a city of nearly 180,000 people that occasionally forgets how big it’s become. It may be the largest city in Sonoma County—and the fifth largest in the Bay Area—but it still carries itself like a small town.

Jason Nutt, Santa Rosa’s newly appointed interim city manager, understands the contradiction.

“It’s understanding sort of the fabric and nature of our community and knowing what it means when we say that we’re the biggest small town in Northern California,” Nutt said during a recent appearance on The Drive 95.5 FM with this reporter.

Nutt’s appointment took effect June 27, following the departure of interim city manager Lori Ann Farrell. Mayor Mark Stapp framed the City Council’s selection of Nutt in the simplest possible terms: “It was an easy choice.”

“Jason is our first local city manager in 30 years,” Stapp said—a distinction that may prove especially valuable as the city faces budget pressures, substantial infrastructure projects and a larger existential question about what kind of city it wants to become.

Nutt brings nearly three decades of public-agency experience to the position. His career includes senior leadership roles with the City of Novato and County of Sonoma, as well as serving as Santa Rosa’s director of Transportation and Public Works.

Since joining Santa Rosa’s executive leadership team in 2019, Nutt has overseen more than 500 employees and approximately $300 million in budgets. He also served as emergency operations director and acting city manager during the Kincade and Glass fires.

On air, Stapp described the division of labor between elected officials and professional city staff. Council members establish policy and direction, while the city manager and municipal staff determine how to put those decisions into practice.

“We rely on Jason Nutt and the team of experts that we have in the city to make the operational decisions,” Stapp explained.

Nutt has lived in Santa Rosa since 2000 and raised his family there. The advantage of local leadership, he said, begins with an instinctive knowledge of place—knowing the neighborhoods, understanding the community’s character and not having to look up Santa Rosa High School on a map.

“You still wanna go down the street and say hi to your neighbor because that’s the way Santa Rosa’s always been,” Nutt said.

His first priority, however, is less sentimental and more urgent.

“My first issue and interest is getting us fiscally stable,” Nutt noted. “I wanna make sure that we don’t have to do the whole budget evaluation as a negative every year.”

Santa Rosa is navigating declining sales-tax revenue, rising operating costs and staffing levels that Stapp said have fallen well below earlier benchmarks. Nutt’s appointment comes as the city develops a two-year financial strategy and considers how to preserve public safety, infrastructure and neighborhood services amid continuing budget pressures.

Yet Nutt’s vision extends beyond managing scarcity. He spoke enthusiastically about downtown entertainment, outdoor recreation, stronger partnerships with schools, expanded business opportunities and even the prospect of attracting a professional sports team.

“I wanna see us start to have fun, start to enjoy, not have to worry about the budget and really take care of the community that we serve,” he said.

That balance—between fiscal discipline and civic imagination—may define his tenure.

“This is a time for the city to catch its breath and look around and say, ‘OK, where are we now?’” Stapp observed.

With Nutt at the administrative helm, the answer may come from someone who already knows the streets, the neighborhoods and the peculiar character of a city that has grown large without entirely believing it.

Fruitful Frolic, Sebastopol’s Gravenstein Apple Fair

Don R. Lewis

Jul 28, 2026

Fruitful Frolic, Sebastopol’s Gravenstein Apple Fair

Since 1973, the esteemed Sonoma County Farm Trails has pulled together the cutest lil country fair in the area, the Gravenstein Apple Fair. This year’s festivities take place Aug. 8 and 9 at Ragle Ranch in Sebastopol.

While promising oodles of fun, the Gravenstein Apple Fair is also nonprofit Sonoma County Farm Trail’s primary annual fundraiser and a celebration of the namesake heirloom apple and Sonoma County’s rich agricultural heritage. All proceeds from the fair benefit Farm Trails’ year-round programs, initiatives and scholarships in service of keeping “Farms Forever” in Sonoma County.

Also worth noting, the fair is the winner of the North Bay Bohemian’s Best Festival 2019–2026, Best Art Event 2026 and Best Charity Event 2026. It’s also a leader in sustainable event production; the fair has been more than 95% Zero Waste since 2018.

While Farm Trails executive director Carmen Snyder enjoys putting on a festival that celebrates our farming community, she also takes the underlying messages of the fair very seriously. Snyder says, “Farm Trails and the Gravenstein Apple Fair are committed to strengthening farming and food systems and educating the public about the importance of investing in all things local to create a more resilient and vibrant community. We prioritize showcasing our Farm Trails members, and this year, more than 80 member farms and producers will be participating in some way, from Apple Alley to Zero Waste.”

Again, “Zero Waste” isn’t just a snappy catch-phrase, and Snyder has the stats to back this up. She notes, “We are industry leaders in sustainable event production, receiving county and statewide recognition.”

Indeed, The Gravenstein Apple Fair recently earned the 2026 California Resource Recovery Association’s Outstanding Practices in Venue and Event Resource Recovery Award and Sonoma County Tourism’s 2026 Sonoma County Stars of the Industry Award for Environmental Stewardship/Sustainable Practices. Snyder proudly states, “For 16,000 attendees last year, we sent only 2 cubic yards of trash to the landfill—roughly half of the back of a small pickup truck.”

The weekend includes many highlights—for starters, the UN has declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer. James Beard Award-winning radio personality, Made Local Magazine podcast host and local foods champion Clark Wolf will moderate a panel discussion about the importance of female farmers to our local food system.

Panelists include Caiti Hachmyer, Red H Farm, Celebrating Womxn’s Leadership in Food; Jennifer Bice, Redwood Hill Farm – Capracopia; Lynda Hopkins, Sonoma County supervisor and farmer; Randi Black, UCCE North Bay Dairy advisor; Sarah Keiser, Wild Oat Hollow Farm; and Yael Bernier, Bernier Farms.

Undoubtedly, food produced by these women and many other local farmers will be put to use in the Artisan Tasting Grove, “a moveable feast” where local farmers and artisan makers come together in an attempt to please the palate. This year, there’s also an added twist with “Chef Bites.” Snyder explains, “We’re excited for the new ‘Chef Bites’ offerings, which bring together producers and restaurants to highlight the wonderful ways chefs are utilizing local farm products.”

Snyder adds, “There will be three sets per day, in addition to the main tasting area with more than 40 farms and producers sampling their culinary, drink and wellness products, all in the magical shaded redwood grove.”

The “Chef Bites” appetizing Saturday lineup includes Goldfinch in collaboration with Deer Valley Daughters & Sabi Greens, Bayou on the Bay in collaboration with Hei Ma and Sebastopol’s venerable Handline in collaboration with West Marin’s hidden gem, Heidrun Meadery (note that the Artisan Tasting Grove requires a separate admission).

Still hungry? Sunday’s lineup triples down with Rocker Oysterfeller teaming up with Liberty Duck and Raft Wines, Sonoma Hand Pie with Eye Cider Works and Viva Joon (with Kiss the Flower Honey Co.).

The fair also offers live entertainment: Saturday features The Hubbub Club, LaiddBackZach, SoloRio, John Courage’s California Country, Audio Angel & Her Good Intentions, Mission Delirium and LA GENTE SF. Sunday sees The Love Choir, False Bottom Band, Marty O’Reilly (in a trio formation), Miko Marks, Sang Matiz and Royal Jelly Jive all performing live.

But perhaps the biggest attraction of the weekend is the annual apple pie baking contest, which is free to enter, and, more interestingly, open to all ages. Longtime local food writer, author and cook Stephanie Klassen, whose latest cookbook, A Little Taste of San Francisco, features recipes and illustrations showcasing the best of what the Bay Area has to offer, has herself won the contest and since joined the ranks of judges. We thought we’d tap into her expertise for some apple pie baking tips.

Klassen says, “This will be my third time as a judge at the Gravenstein Apple Fair’s Apple Pie Contest, so I’ve had the privilege of tasting a lot of amateur bakers’ best pies.” Her first, ahem, “piece” of advice is more of an overarching rule of thumb. She notes that “baking a great pie is a lot of work.”

But she also offers more tangible, veteran pie-making tips such as, “A fresh pie is the best pie,” and, “If possible, bake your pie early in the morning of the contest, allowing at least two or three hours for it to cool before the judging. Baking the night before is fine, too. Hot pie is soupy pie.”

Following this theme of timing, Klassen says, “Bake it for longer than you think.” She adds, “I’ve seen a lot of underbaked pies, where the crust is pale and bland and never got a chance to develop that beautiful golden-brown color and toasty-caramel flavor. Other tips to ensure a solid crust include using a metal or silicon crust shield, or placing a ring of aluminum foil over the crimped edge halfway through baking.”

While these tips are definitely helpful, her biggest tip might revolve around presentation. To this, she says, “Creativity is great, but does it truly serve the pie? Everyone’s ideal pie is different. But is an apple pie truly better for having grape jelly or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in it? Have fun, but also think about balance—crust, fruit and spices/sweetening all working together. If no one has ever put blue raspberry gummy worms into their pie filling before, there’s probably a reason for that.”

The Gravenstein Appel Fair runs 10am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 8 and 9, Ragle Ranch Park, 500 Ragle Rd., Sebastopol. Ticket options at gravensteinapplefair.com.