It’s about that time of year in the wine country when we all start bracing for fire season. We’ve been lucky these past few years to avoid some of the more massive, destructive wildfires that tore throughlocal hills, valleys and towns during the summers of 2017 through 2020. The super dry, drought conditions of those years have begun to ease — most of California’s reservoirs are reportedly filled to the brim right now — and local fire departments have grown progressively larger, smarter, quicker and better-funded. The Press Democrat published a preview last week of what to expect this fire season. Here are some highlights: “Over the next four months, according to the Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center, the chances for significant fire potential are normal or below normal in Northern California. That’s due to multiple factors, including greater rainfall, fewer extremely hot days, added moisture among fuels, a strong snowpack and more. But this good news may change at any time. ‘It’s not time to be complacent,’ Cal Fire spokesperson Jason Clay said. This year, the warmer season is starting off nearly the same as 2023, following yet another rainy winter. More than 37 inches of rain fell at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa since Oct. 1, 2023, according to official rainfall totals. The rains over the past two years have almost eliminated drought conditions in the state and have kept larger fire fuels, like trees, damp for longer. At the same time, lighter fuels that can lead to flashier burns, such as grasses, thrived in the conditions and grew. This was the same case last year, when there were no large wildfires. But that’s not a 100% guarantee big fires won’t pop up. The North Bay experienced a similarly wet winter before the 2017 North Bay firestorm that killed 40 people in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties in November 2017. The firestorm included about six named major fires and altogether destroyed nearly 6,200 homes in the region. So, it can change with the drop of a lightning strike or a whip of a wind gust, Clay said. ‘Mother Nature being kind to us,’ he said, has been one of the biggest reasons why there have not been larger wildfires in the past few years.” A bunch of new policies and programs put in place by local governments and partners in the offseason — like staging prescribed burns, creating defensible space and carving out “fuel breaks” to slow the spread of wildfires — seem to be helping, too. But fire officials warn that if dry La Niña winds start blowing midsummer, which is looking like a 50/50-plus possibility at this point, wildfire risk could rise significantly by August. So the resounding message from officials is still to stay vigilant. Healdsburg native and State Senate President Mike McGuire, who reps the North Coast, held an online town hall last week to kick off National Wildfire Preparedness Month. On the call, Santa Rosa’s fire chief said: “We can’t rest on the fact that we have had rain. We can’t rest on the fact that we have had a few years to get some really solid vegetation management, defensible space, fuel reduction work done. We all have to be prepared. We all have to be ready. We have to be prepared for this. It takes everybody for us to be successful.” That said, the residents of Mark West Springs between Santa Rosa and Windsor, a neighborhood razed by the Tubbs Fire in 2017, aren’t hesitating to celebrate how far they’ve come in the rebuilding process. They reportedly held a big party last Saturday afternoon at the site of a park they’re building — with features like a “cutting-edge water fountain and drought-tolerant butterfly garden,” according to the PD — to mark a community “rebirth” in the years since the fire. Onward and upward… (Source: Press Democrat & KRCB & North Bay Business Journal & Press Democrat & Press Democrat & KRCB)
In the wake of solar-eclipse mania earlier this spring, wegot another bump of cosmic euphoria last weekend in the form of some rare northern-lights sightings, much farther south than usual. This was pretty much a once-in-a-generation phenomenon; the last time it happened here was reportedly more than 20 years ago. (Not sure what I was doing that night in 2003!) And last weekend’s big aurora show arguably eclipsed the eclipse, in terms of pure glitz factor — watercoloring the sky in a dazzling wash of pinks, purples, yellows, blues and greens. Aurora borealis chasers swarmed all the rural nooks of the wine country with the least light pollution on Friday and Saturday nights, armed with cellphone cameras whose slow-exposure tech has gotten so advanced that often the photos were even more mind-blowing than the naked-eye view. Just another quick reminder that we are mere specks in a vast and incomprehensibly epic universe of wonders! As you may have already learned by furiously googling “WTF is going on” like much of the country, all thisgorgeousness was caused by a momentous geomagnetic storm — aka, even more chaos than usual coming from the stormy ball of gas and plasma that is our sun. Here’s some more info from a CBS News report, which almost reads like campy sci-fi: “An ‘extreme’ G5 geomagnetic storm reached Earth on Friday, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said, after issuing a watch earlier in the daywarning of the potential for a severe impact. The watch followed days of solar activity that sent several explosions of plasma and magnetic fields toward Earth. G5 is the strongest level of geomagnetic storm, on a scale from G1 to G5. ‘Widespread voltage control problems and protective system problems can occur,’ NOAA warns. ‘Some grid systems may experience complete collapse or blackouts. Transformers may experience damage.’ Radio transmissions and satellite navigation may also be disrupted.” If you’re into pseudoscience like moi, you may have also experienced some power-of-suggestion solar storm symptoms like nausea, headaches, grogginess, soreness and general existential angst. Here’s an excerpt from one especially out-there PR email I received yesterday from a publicist for “psychic influencer Elizabeth April” (don’t ask me how I get on these lists): “Solar storms have a profound effect on the human body and consciousness. However, most people have difficulty rationalizing how or why astronomical eventssuch as Mercury retrograde can knock them off their equilibrium so much. Here to offer a guiding light is Elizabeth April, an intuitive psychic and best-selling author. Through her popular YouTube channel, social media accounts (210k IG followers), and podcast, Elizabeth has enlightened hundreds of thousands on their unique station in the universe.” Nothing like a big space event to get the crazy juices flowing! How about I leave us with some grounding words from national weather officials, who are better trained at drawing the line at mere awe: “For many people, the aurora is a beautiful nighttime phenomenon that is worth traveling to arctic regions just to observe. It is the only way for most people to actually experience space weather.” Amen. (Source: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration & CBS News & SF Chronicle & Napa Valley Register & Press Democrat)
Well, that escalated quickly. Sonoma State University President Mike Lee has reportedly been placed on leave by his bosses at California State University headquarters after going rogue on Tuesday and agreeing to meet some of the demands of Gaza war protesters on campus, apparently without consulting his CSU overlords. “Because of this insubordination and the consequences it has brought upon the system, President Lee has been placed on administrative leave,” the head of the CSU system told Politico. Lee sent a mass email to Sonoma State students and staff Tuesday night, detailing the concessions — which did seem much more dramatic than some of the more conservative steps announced in recent days by administrators at, say, the UC Berkeley campus. The 20 or so Sonoma State protesters who had been holding their ground on “Person Lawn” for the past few weeks declared victory and packed up their stuff, vacating the lawn yesterday. Which made it a little awkward when the school president sent another email later that afternoon, apologizing for his overreach and announcing his leave. Lee wrote: “In my attempt to find agreement with one group of students, I marginalized other members of our student population and community. … As I step away on a leave, I will reflect on the harm this has caused and will be working with the Chancellor’s Office to determine next steps.” His temporary replacement will be Nathan Evans, one of the school’s deputy vice chancellors. In Lee’s original message that got him in trouble, reprinted by the Press Democrat, he called for an immediate ceasefire and promised, on the university’s behalf, to research all investments possibly touching Israel’s war in Gaza, then disclose them to the public and possibly find alternatives. He also promised toterminate any study-abroad programs sending students to Israeland any academic collaborations with “Israeli academic and research institutions.” This last point, in particular, angered some SSU professors. Stephen Bittner, chair of the SSU history department and director of its Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, told the Press Democrat: “The academic boycott of Israel is atrocious and morally reprehensible, in my view. It is contrary to the values of scholarly freedom, and free exchange, that are supposed to be at the center of any university.” Here’s some more analysis on Lee’s dismissal, from Politico: “The punishment marks perhaps the harshest disciplinary action against a campus chancellor or president in California over the handling of protests of the war in Gaza. It also underscores an unwillingness to divest from Israeli weapons manufacturers — as pro-Palestinian protesters across the country have increasingly demanded the last few months — among leaders of the CSU system and its sister University of California system. California universities including UC Riverside, UC Berkeley and Sacramento State have agreed to study divestment like some East Coast universities, but none have gone as far as Lee.” In an Instagram post today, the Sonoma County chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace criticized CSU officials for dismissing Lee. They wrote: “This disciplinary action sets a dangerous precedent for all campus leaders moving forward. We would also like to note that this unjust disciplinary action was taken against the second Asian American President of SSU during the middle of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.” The SSU protesters, for their part, wrote in a post of support for Lee: “We choose insubordination.” Protest camps started springing up at college campuses across the globe late last month, and are now being dismantled one by one, either by choice or by force. The camp at Sonoma State never saw any violence, although Lee did accuse protesters at one point of chalking some anti-Semitic phrases onto a school sidewalk. (Source: Sonoma State University & SSU Students for Justice in Palestine via Instagram & Jewish Voices for Peace Sonoma County via Instagram & Politico & U.K. Guardian & Press Democrat & Press Democrat & Press Democrat & San Francisco Chronicle)
As California’s native Chinook salmon populations dwindle, prompting a shutdown of the fishing industry, environmentalists are pleading with water supply managers for a change of course that they say could save the keystone fish.
On Earth Day, several dozen people gathered on the sidewalk outside San Francisco City Hall to demand that the city’s water provider revise its system for capturing flows from the Tuolumne River, a San Joaquin River tributary and a major source of peninsula water supplies.
“Their terrible water policies don’t just harm the environment, but they harm people and communities,” said Peter Drekmeier, policy director with the Tuolumne River Trust, an environmental advocate.
Drekmeier’s beef with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission goes back years and rests on the premise that the agency stores far more water than it needs in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, on the upper Tuolumne, at the expense of the river downstream. The commission’s water management plan is based on the unlikely possibility of an 8.5-year drought—a theoretical disaster dubbed the “design drought” that critics consider overkill.
He cited an analysis that concluded such a drought might occur once in 25,000 years. The commission, which ordered the report, said those results were flawed and cannot be trusted for management decisions.
Environmentalists insist the agency could take a more fish-friendly approach, releasing more water through O’Shaughnessy Dam into the Tuolumne River while still providing adequate supplies for its 2.7 million customers. Just cutting the design drought short by 18 months—to seven years—would make all the difference to the fish, Drekmeier said. He and other environmentalists insist that higher average flows through the Tuolumne and into the San Joaquin would boost salmon numbers.
San Francisco resident and retired botanist Mary Butterwick held a sign on the City Hall steps that read “Honor Tribal Rights.” She said she feels the city of San Francisco has captured a water resource that belongs to others.
“The salmon have the senior water rights,” Butterwick said.
But today, San Francisco and two farming districts in the northern San Joaquin Valley control most of the river’s water. Together, the partners deprive the lower Tuolumne of so much flow that in most years, during key life stages for salmon, it trickles like a creek. This aggressive use of the river comes against the recommendation of California water officials, who in 2018 recommended substantially higher flows in the San Joaquin river system to revive the ecosystem.
The utilities commission and irrigation districts answered by suing the state three years ago. In March, a judge with the Sacramento Superior Court tossed out the lawsuits.
Nancy Crowley, press secretary with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, said the city’s water agency is reviewing the decision to determine its next steps.
At an April 23 commission meeting immediately following the sidewalk rally, a procession of speakers representing fishers, tribes, NGOs and disadvantaged communities publicly urged the commissioners to accept the court decision and boost the Tuolumne’s flows.
Farm groups and their lobbyists—and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission—tend to downplay the ecological impacts of taking water from rivers.
Cintia Cortez, policy analyst with the group Restore the Delta, said the commission’s water management plan is formulated after racist statewide policies that “displaced tribes from their ancestral homelands.” She said communities downstream from the Tuolumne must contend today with the results of reduced flows, including toxic algal blooms.
Michael Frost, a board member with the same organization, called the city’s water policies “rapacious,” blaming the commission for the breakdown of a biodiversity hotspot and the largest estuary ecosystem in the West.
“We are at extinction levels of salmon,” he said.
Decline
Before European Americans swarmed California, adult Chinook salmon returned to spawn in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers in legendary numbers, with estimates suggesting runs of 1 to 2 million fish each year. The Tuolumne River’s annual contribution to this salmon population amounted to tens of thousands—maybe more.
In the past decade, the Central Valley’s Chinook runs have averaged around 150,000, mostly fall-run Sacramento fish. Just 186 adult Chinook returned to the Tuolumne in 2021, with a promising jump to more than 1,100 in 2023.
The Chinook decline, which has culminated in closure of the state’s salmon fishing season the last two years, has fueled decades of feuding between stakeholders. Fishery proponents contend that state policies unevenly distribute California’s water resources. Farms, they say, get unfair priority, ultimately taking from Central Valley rivers more water than aquatic ecosystems can handle.
“The water policies of California are decimating the fish,” said Scott Artis, the executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association.
Farmers and their allies in the legislature hotly contest this allegation, frequently arguing that farms don’t receive nearly enough water. Two weeks ago, Rep. David Valadao, of San Joaquin Valley, spoke on the House floor, urging the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to increase water deliveries to the region’s farms.
“Food security is national security, and our ability to grow food for the nation will not survive without reliable water supply for south-of-Delta agriculture,” Valadao said.
But surface water shortages are often mitigated by groundwater pumping. In fact, state crop reports show record hauls of valuable nut and grape crops year after year for decades, with drought periods having little to no impact on harvest. Recent dips in price have resulted largely from oversupply.
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom outraged environmental watchdogs by dismantling basic protections on minimum environmental flows through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to allow water managers to store more of the resource in upstream reservoirs. Critics said the action would mostly benefit growers. Similar waivers were issued in prior years, and every critically dry year in the last decade.
Another pattern that has agitated salmon proponents is the repeated failure of state and federal officials to maintain a flow of cold water—vital for spawning salmon—downstream of Shasta Dam and Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir. This happens, critics say, when the Bureau of Reclamation releases too much water during the spring and summer irrigation season. Lake levels drop, and water temperatures climb. This process has killed almost all the fertilized salmon eggs and juveniles in the Sacramento River in recent years.
Fishery advocates saw the subsequent collapse coming.
“There is nothing surprising here,” said Barry Nelson, a water policy consultant to the Golden State Salmon Association. “When you kill almost all the babies, you get dismal returns three years later.”
Strategy
STRATEGY Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Salmon Strategy specifies the six priorities and 71 actions to build healthier, thriving salmon populations in California. Photo courtesy of the Office of the Governor
In January, Newsom cited this problem in his “California Salmon Strategy,” a 37-page brochure of proposed recovery actions. It says state agencies and partners will … “[b]y 2025, where appropriate, revise and modernize approaches for Shasta Reservoir management to protect water quality and temperature management for salmon.” The document offers caveats, notably that actions must be considered “in light of other competing beneficial uses of water.”
The number-one competitor for Shasta’s water is agriculture.
Farm groups and their lobbyists—and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission—tend to downplay the ecological impacts of taking water from rivers. More frequently, water supply advocates blame invasive species, pollution, dams, habitat loss, climate change, poor ocean productivity and overfishing for the breakdown of the Central Valley’s salmon populations.
All of these are plausible factors with known impacts to salmon. In fact, commercial harvest in 2022 probably significantly dented that fall’s spawning returns. That summer, the commercial fleet caught far more salmon than fishery managers anticipated. It was also more than they could sell. Sources said that heaps of Chinook salmon rotted on boats.
Still, most scientists lean on river flows, not fishing pressure, as a key driver of salmon numbers. Historical records of annual precipitation and salmon returns reflect this relationship.
“Every year, nature does an experiment for us … and there’s a very strong pattern where every time flows are high, we get a higher percentage of eggs turning into juveniles, and we get more fish returning three years later,” said Jon Rosenfield, science director at the group San Francisco Baykeeper.
This pattern is not just a correlation, he added, as “there are mechanisms [related to flow volume] that we know drive fish abundance.”
To help the Tuolumne’s salmon, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and its partner irrigation districts have proposed habitat improvement measures through a plan dubbed the Tuolumne River Voluntary Agreement. With the landscape restoration group River Partners, the agencies plan to rebuild 77 acres of floodplain beside the river by 2030. This work will be complemented by the addition of 100,000 tons of gravel, the substrate in which salmon lay and fertilize their eggs.
But these measures may have their weaknesses. For one, there is a question about the need for enhanced spawning habitat. In 2008, state and federal fishery biologists found that productive nursery habitat for juvenile salmon in the Tuolumne was, at the time, a greater limiting factor on the river’s salmon production than spawning success.
“[P]roducing more fry by restoring spawning habitat is unlikely to increase adult recruitment,” the scientists wrote in a report.
And restored floodplains do little good unless they are routinely submerged for extended periods—what some say the city’s flow plan for the Tuolumne will fail to do.
“Is it really habitat if there’s no water?” Artis asked.
The city’s voluntary agreement includes actions that specifically address this concern. For instance, it proposes lowering the level of floodplains to facilitate inundation by the river and fish access.
It also calls for added water—but not enough, critics say. State wildlife officials suggested in 2013 that the San Joaquin system be maintained at an average of 60% of all the water in the watershed at a given time—a measure called unimpaired flow. This, they said, would serve as a foundation for restoring salmon runs. In 2018, the State Water Resources Control Board proposed a compromised target of 40% unimpaired flow.
But that number remains a distant goal post. Most years, the Tuolumne’s unimpaired flow ranges between 10% and 20%, while years’ worth of stored water lie idled in Hetch Hetchy. The voluntary agreement will result in an average unimpaired flow of 16%, according to a 2023 analysis by Greg Reis, a staff hydrologist with The Bay Institute.
Such meager flows result in sluggish, warm water downstream of the river’s dams, and it often leaves valuable floodplain habitat high and dry.
Rosenfield, with Baykeeper, noted that even 40% unimpaired flow still tends to be inadequate in California salmon rivers.
“At numbers over 50%, you really start to see more frequent benefits of flow,” he said.
During the summer months, living in the North Bay can feel like having a built-in coastal Californian holiday at one’s fingertips.
Beach days, restaurant trips and wine pours galore are there to take people around every corner, along with entertainment and activities for personal enrichment or debauchery (depending on the individual, naturally). Personal preferences aside, these long, sunny days and warm nights promise locals a lot of hours to fill with only the best of the North Bay’s upcoming events.
Get ready to grab that sunscreen, some hot company and cool drinks because the starting line for the summer of 2024 begins here and now.
So, get ready, set and play the days away this summer in the North Bay.
Cotati Accordion Festival
Some fan-favorite events are too funny to make up or leave off of a list, and the Cotati Accordion Festival just so happens to be one such happening coming to the North Bay this summer. Not only is this a manifold opportunity for musical fun in the sun, a hilariously random stamp to add to one’s seasonal calendar, but it also offers a sneak peek into the fascinating realm of unique instrumentals and those who enjoy them. So, fold to peer pressure and visit the Cotati Accordion Festival at La Plaza Park Aug. 16 through 18.
To reserve tickets to the 33rd annual Cotati Accordion Festival, visit the website at cotatifest.com.
Country Summer Music Festival
For those out of the lasso loop, the North Bay boasts one crown jewel: Northern California’s biggest country music festival. That’s right, alongside some other incredibly famous and eclectic musical selections this summer, there’s also the County Summer Music Festival. So, one, two, step on down or otherwise West Coast swing the way to the best country music event west of Texas. Headliners for this year’s County Summer Music Festival are Old Dominion, Little Big Town and Jordan Davis.
The County Summer Music Festival is at 1350 Bennett Valley Rd. in Santa Rosa. It will run from June 14 through 16—for more information, to see the full lineup of musicians, buy tickets and/or reserve camping spots, visit the website at countrysummer.com.
Flynn Creek Circus
For those North Bay locals who have always dreamed of running away with/to the circus to escape the day-to-day grind of life so close to the city, they’re in luck—Flynn Creek Circus has precisely what they need to beat the heat these hot summer months ahead. And there isn’t a hotter event in town than the adults-only night at Flynn Creek Circus. The Flynn Creek Circus website promises not only spectacle and a place to party but also enticing tidbits like, “Adults Only shows do feature crude and sexual language and semi-nudity. You’re welcome.”
Whether one is looking to send their kid off to camp to teach them applicable life skills like the trapeze, tightrope or possibly lion taming, or if they want a night away to take in an adult-only show of raucous cabaret, then Flynn Creek Circus is a top choice for only the hottest of summers.
To learn more about Flynn Creek Circus and see the travel calendar for their summertime tour up and down the West Coast, visit the website at flynncreekcircus.com.
Gravenstein Apple Fair
They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but visiting the Gravenstein Apple Fair can keep those pesky health practitioners away for up to a year (allegedly). For 51 years, this apple-centric celebration has cheered locals and visitors alike with crisp, juicy delights. Attendees can enjoy apples, apples and more apples in the form of fruit, drinks, music and more—no time for questions. Just buy a ticket, explore and eat down to the core.
The Gravenstein Apple Fair is located at 500 Ragle Rd. in Sebastopol and runs from Aug. 10 to 11. To learn more about this town’s summertime apple extravaganza, visit the website at gravensteinapplefair.com.
Healdsburg Jazz Festival
This year celebrates the 26th annual summertime extravaganza of all things jazz. Musical enthusiasts can come out and enjoy the masterful work of headline artists such as Samara Joy, Ambrose Akinmusire and Joshua Redman (to name only a few).
The Healdsburg Jazz Festival is located at 122A North St. The festival spans from June 15 through 23, meaning nine days to drink wine and dance one’s heart out to jazz this summer. To ensure one doesn’t miss out on the opportunity to move with the groove or check out who will be jamming, visit the website at healdsburgjazz.org.
North Coast Wine and Food Festival
Foodies of the North Bay, look no further than the North Coast Wine and Food Festival to satisfy all those summertime food and wine wants, needs and otherwise desirous thoughts. This is the event of the summer for anyone looking to get a little Dionysian for the season.
The North Coast Wine and Food Festival is set to take place on June 15 at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, located at 50 Mark West Springs Rd. in Santa Rosa. To learn more or purchase tickets for this local culinary event, visit northcoastwineandfood.com.
The Greatest Fair on Earth
Don’t let the humble name behind this local fair fool anyone because The Greatest Fair on Earth has nothing to be demure about. After all, this 10-day event from Aug. 1 to 11 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds promises everything and a bag of chips. From the beloved rural traditions like horse racing, rodeos, junior livestock auctions, thrilling carnival rides, perfectly fried fair food, monster truck rallies and demolition derbies, and even Sylvia Zerbini’s Liberté experience in between…well, let’s just say this fair earned its title fair and square.
To visit The Greatest Fair on Earth this summer at 1450 Bennett Valley Rd. in Santa Rosa, go to the website and book tickets at sonomacountyfair.com.
The North Bay’s summer social events offer more options than there are days on the calendar—opportunities to get out into nature, visit delicious restaurants, explore cute little towns and see and meet…the possibilities are nearly endless. Plus, it’s best not to forget all the outdoorsy holidays coming up, which make for an excellent reason to serve up red, white and bubbly like it’s already past 5 o’clock on the Fourth of July. So, get out there and carpe diem California’s central coast this summer!
Massive music festivals are an acquired taste, as each typically runs three days and is jam-packed with stages, musicians, food trucks and all sorts of sundry goods, depending on the vibe of the fest. Nothing like paying hundreds of dollars to enjoy a favorite band from 300+ yards away with 10,000 close friends.
However, the Cosmico Music Festival is offering a much more thoughtful and chill fest as it ambles out of the summer festival gate early with dates set for May 17-19 at Dawn Ranch in Guerneville. This “boutique” music fest promises a smaller, more community vibe than other bigger fests like BottleRock or Outside Lands.
Started by Anne Driscoll and Chris Schultz five years ago among the redwoods at their home near Mill Creek, Cosmico seeks to be a more intimate affair, with a nod towards local winemakers via their “Wine Camp” attraction, where aficionados can taste some of the smaller label wines the area has to offer.
This is the fifth year for the festival and the first at Dawn Ranch in Guerneville, which is about 20 minutes northwest of Santa Rosa, near the Austin Creek Recreation Area. “While we would have loved to stay in Healdsburg, we also loved the idea of doing it in nature and having a night show outdoors—which isn’t that easy in Healdsburg,” said Driscoll.
The area came across the Cosmico radar in conversations with friends, as it’s located locally as well as spacious enough to fit more people. It’s also home to the rustic Dawn Ranch Lodge, as well as areas where festival attendees can camp.
“We visited it last fall to see all the changes, and even under a rainy sky, we knew that this was somewhere we could create magic. It would allow us to have people stay on site, which creates amazing energy, and gives people such a unique opportunity to be sharing the space with our artists,” Driscoll said.
Both she and Schultz have worked alongside entrepreneurs and music festivals alike, all with an eye towards creating a “business and foundation based on the power of community and connection.” As such, the festival is also part of a non-profit group called The Launch Pad Foundation, which in turn donates to grass roots organizations that reflect their mission to strengthen communities. Examples of these include: Mill Creek COPE, Voices for a Safer Tennessee, Good Fire and Scholarship for Children of Vineyard Workers.
Speaking towards the overall vision of the festival, Driscoll said, “At Cosmico, you are part of the experience, and you’ll be dancing next to your new favorite winemaker or band. You’ll discover new spirits and meet new friends. You’ll be part of creating the energy, and you aren’t just a number on our ticket list.”
This year’s lineup is eclectic and includes indie rock band Susto, King Dream and The Aravelo Brothers, featuring Jackie Greene, Nikki Bluhm and Jason Crosby. Also on the bill is Sam Grisman, son of mandolin player and Grateful Dead-adjacent legend David Grisman.
When asked about the popularity and price point for many of the larger locally based music festivals, Driscoll didn’t pull any punches, saying, “We don’t want to go to a big fest anymore, either. Trying to find your friends, fighting the crowds. I don’t want to feel like I got dropped into a corporate machine, where I’m captive to their big brands and bigger prices.”
Explore the Cosmico Music Fest and buy tickets online at cosmi.co.
Sean Armstrong is Sebastopol-based and Cloverdale-born. He is of Apache, Irish and Mayan ancestry and is a multi-hyphenate breakdancer and party promoter with an emphasis on fashion production. He owns the local clothing label, Reprezent.
I will admit that when I curated him into the upcoming 3rd Annual North Bay Fashion Ball (May 18 at Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma), I simply thought his clothing was cool. But after talking to him for this profile, I now consider his clothing a case-in-point of how much story, reference, gesture and message can be woven into what we wear.
Cincinnatus Hibbard: Sean, you have been telling me about the parties that you throw, which seem to represent all the six elements of hip-hop culture (breakdancing, DJing, MCing, graffiti, fashion and spreading the culture). When did you enter hip-hop, or when did hip-hop enter you?
Sean Armstrong: Hip-hop started in the ’80s but has ancient roots in tribal times. For me, the culture was a path out of hardship. Between 14 and 22, I was running around with bad kids. It was fun and games at first, but got to the point where friends were killing each other. These were young kids with egos, born and raised in The Life, with fathers and uncles in jail for gang-banging.
I needed to find a way out. A few friends who were break dancers asked me to join them. With breaking, I could take that attitude and aggression into dance battles and win with skill instead of violence. My gangster friends respected that. That was back in 1996.
CH: In 2006, you started Reprezent hip-hop clothing line. Tell me what inspired your logo (a double triangle akin to a Star of David with a pyramid eye).
SA: It’s a Merkaba. It is ancient Egyptian sacred geometry, and it represents the balance of all oppositions. I use my clothing to spread the Merkaba.
CH: … And activate people with sacred geometry. Tell me about these patterned textiles that you use. They seem both psychedelic and digital.
SA: My mission has been expanded from preserving hip-hop culture to preserving my Indigenous Mayan culture. Those patterns are thousands of years old. Annually, I go on buying trips to the Mayan villages around Lake Atitlán, where they are hand-woven and loomed. Those patterns contain the vibrations of a visual song. When we see them, they activate our ancient selves and tell us who we really are.
New York, Paris, Milan, Shanghai and…Petaluma?! Yes. With the Met Gala still fresh on the world’s Instagram feeds, fashion is having a moment.
And for local fashionistas, there is no place better to be than the 3rd Annual North Bay Fashion Ball and Art Market. In Petaluma.
Thanks to the efforts of the Bohemian’s own “Locals” columnist and Sonoma County: A Community Portrait podcaster Cincinnatus Hibbard and fashion label director Lena Claypool of Buck Lucky Brand and Vintage Collective, fashion fans can see tomorrow’s looks today—or at least Saturday—at Petaluma’s Lagunitas Brewery and Beer Sanctuary.
The event is a direct, proactive response to the relative dearth of area fashion events and a means to support our emerging designers. Among the local labels showcased this year are Reprezent, Buck Lucky Brand, Love Morgue, Poofi Studio, The Princess Boutique and YLX Design.
“I think they’re all so great. They’re all totally different. Everyone is speaking to a completely different customer,” observes Claypool. “I think everyone’s working together in a way that’s really cool.”
The criteria while choosing this year’s lineup was simple: “Do I feel passionate about what they’re doing, and who do I feel can really connect with the type of audience that we’re looking to have?” Claypool asks. “Most of the designers this year have never done a fashion show at all and have a brand or have something that they’re just trying to show to the world.”
Complementing this year’s fashion ball is a pop-up art market of over 20 local makers and vintage pickers, as well as food trucks to supplement the Lagunitas burger bar, and live entertainment throughout.
Photographers will be on hand to capture the glamor and glitz throughout the event, so guests are encouraged to dress for the occasion (suggestions include anything from “cover girls to an alien or a stripper”). To that end, guests are invited to enter an “open call” runway for a star turn on stage and a chance to “win a crown by a call of popular acclamation.” All participants will receive a certificate, authenticated by the fashion ball, declaring them “officially hot.”
Of note is the underlying credo of the North Bay Fashion Ball—“fashion and compassion”—to wit, all of the profits from the event are given to Face to Face (Sonoma County AIDS Network), to support their 40-plus year mission to end HIV in Sonoma County.
“Come to be inspired,” says Hibbard, who will emcee the event. “It’s like such a diverse group of people, and it’s really cool to see what they take away from it, because everyone takes away something different.”
Perhaps even a new wardrobe.
The 3rd Annual North Bay Fashion Ball and Art Market itinerary includes, from 2 to 5:30pm, a free Art and Fashion Market with live bands and food trucks, and from 6 to 8pm, the ticketed runway show (with surprise performances), Saturday, May 18, at the Lagunitas Brewery and Beer Sanctuary, 1280 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma. Tickets start at $11.11. For more information, including ticket links, visit instagram.com/northbayfashionball.
Larkspur’s The Lark Theater continues its revue, Side by Side by Sondheim, featuring a collection of Stephen Sondheim’s most beloved songs, through May 25. The show includes classics like “Send in the Clowns” (A Little Night Music), “Side by Side” and “Company” (Company), “I’m Still Here” and “Broadway Baby” (Follies) and more. The songs, performed by a cast of five (Ashley Rae Little, Ken Brill, Maureen McVerry, Simon Barrad and Emma Roos), are interspersed with stories about Sondheim’s career and the shows from which the songs originate. Showtimes are Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm through May 25. Tickets are $50 and available at bit.ly/sidebyside-lark.
Petaluma
Wine & Song
Featuring Petaluma bassist and vocalist Dorian Bartley, The Dorian Mode delivers “elegance in classic American music,” from vintage jazz and swing to early R&B via bass, vocals, piano, saxophone and drums. The combo plays from 6:30 to 8:30pm, on Friday, May 17, at Brooks Note Winery and Tasting Room, 426 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma. Music nights are first come, first served, and there’s no cover charge. Guests are encouraged to enjoy a glass (or bottle) of wine paired with a cheese plate, and/or bring their own dinners. More information can be found at instagram.com/thedorianmodecombo and brooksnotewinery.com.
San Rafael
Trivia Café Live
What 2020 Netflix series with the name of a game in its title has been viewed 750 million hours? What deaf performer won the Best Actress Oscar in 1986, and for her work in which film? For the answers to these and other questions, proceed to page 32. To experience Weeklys’ own trivia king Howard Rachelson’s trivial pursuits live, venture to San Rafael’s Cafe Villa for an evening of competitive trivializing (that’s the verb, right?). There, Rachelson’s unique brand of arcane knowledge becomes a team sport. No reservations required (though there is a 32-participant maximum). The games begin at 5pm, Saturday, May 18, at Cafe Villa Trattoria & Bar, 1602 Lincoln Ave., San Rafael. For more information, visit cafevilla.net or call 415.459.6161.
Sonoma
Global Tasting
Tony Moll of Three Fat Guys Winery offers a special blind-tasting of six Italian wines from different regions of Italy paired with an Italian-themed dinner catered by San Francisco’s A16 restaurant, as part of its “The Global Tasting Series.” Sonoma County’s “sommelier to the stars,” Christopher Sawyer, leads the pairing and gastronomic experience accompanied by A16 proprietor Shelley Lindgren, who recently authored Italian Wine: The History, Regions, and Grapes of an Iconic Wine Country. Wines in question will be revealed after the tasting. The dinner and tasting commence at 6:30pm, Thursday, May 23, at Three Fat Guys Winery, 20816 Broadway, Sonoma. Tickets are $135 and are available via bit.ly/sawyer-global-tasting.
A recent survey by the Leadership Now Project, a bi-partisan pro-democracy group of 400 corporations, reveals that 85% of business leaders believe a well-functioning democracy is essential to a healthy business climate, and 78% are concerned about the condition of American democracy today. Hey, no kidding.
Another way of looking at it is that 15% don’t care about democracy, and 22% are worried and don’t know what the hell to do about it. The other stuff we are all facing is disinformation campaigns managed by the Russians and others and threats of violence against poll workers and election officials, jobs that heretofore have never required riot gear, Glocks and armored cars. When one adds in some AI, the whole shebang gets really messy.
Business is often a late adopter of truth, justice and the American Way. It is tardy to recognize when shit is going wrong. And for one reason or another, business leaders are not the first ones to feel the effects of social decline. They live in nice, sheltered communities like Hillsborough, Piedmont, Woodside, Blackhawk, Ross, Kentfield, Tiburon and Belvedere. Once things erode too much, they learn that putting the country back together is tough.
Standing up for democracy is not a partisan exercise. Give your people time off to vote. This is a major signal about how you feel about earning a living versus exercising the right to vote.
Educate your people about how to avoid the profligate political misinformation machine. Voters have never been barraged by bullshit as heavily as they are now. Remind your people to stick to established, legitimate information sources.
As a company, review your political spending and trade group memberships. Too much of what’s discussed in the business community right now is about responding to trends and rhetoric, and not enough is about hardcore, sustainable democratic values.
Americans today are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy lose out to fascism and communism last century. Our single advantage is that we can learn from their experiences. Let us not ignore the legacies of Mr. Churchill and Mr. Orwell.
It's about that time of year in the wine country when we all start bracing for fire season. We've been lucky these past few years to avoid some of the more massive, destructive wildfires that tore through local hills, valleys and towns during the summers of 2017 through 2020. The super dry, drought conditions of those years have begun...
In the wake of solar-eclipse mania earlier this spring, we got another bump of cosmic euphoria last weekend in the form of some rare northern-lights sightings, much farther south than usual. This was pretty much a once-in-a-generation phenomenon; the last time it happened here was reportedly more than 20 years ago. (Not sure what I was doing that night...
Well, that escalated quickly. Sonoma State University President Mike Lee has reportedly been placed on leave by his bosses at California State University headquarters after going rogue on Tuesday and agreeing to meet some of the demands of Gaza war protesters on campus, apparently without consulting his CSU overlords. "Because of this insubordination and the consequences it has brought...
As California’s native Chinook salmon populations dwindle, prompting a shutdown of the fishing industry, environmentalists are pleading with water supply managers for a change of course that they say could save the keystone fish.
On Earth Day, several dozen people gathered on the sidewalk outside San Francisco City Hall to demand that the city’s water provider revise its system for...
During the summer months, living in the North Bay can feel like having a built-in coastal Californian holiday at one’s fingertips.
Beach days, restaurant trips and wine pours galore are there to take people around every corner, along with entertainment and activities for personal enrichment or debauchery (depending on the individual, naturally). Personal preferences aside, these long, sunny days and...
Massive music festivals are an acquired taste, as each typically runs three days and is jam-packed with stages, musicians, food trucks and all sorts of sundry goods, depending on the vibe of the fest. Nothing like paying hundreds of dollars to enjoy a favorite band from 300+ yards away with 10,000 close friends.
However, the Cosmico Music Festival is offering...
Sean Armstrong is Sebastopol-based and Cloverdale-born. He is of Apache, Irish and Mayan ancestry and is a multi-hyphenate breakdancer and party promoter with an emphasis on fashion production. He owns the local clothing label, Reprezent.
I will admit that when I curated him into the upcoming 3rd Annual North Bay Fashion Ball (May 18 at Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma),...
New York, Paris, Milan, Shanghai and…Petaluma?! Yes. With the Met Gala still fresh on the world’s Instagram feeds, fashion is having a moment.
And for local fashionistas, there is no place better to be than the 3rd Annual North Bay Fashion Ball and Art Market. In Petaluma.
Thanks to the efforts of the Bohemian’s own “Locals” columnist and Sonoma County: A...
Larkspur
Sondheim for a Lark
Larkspur’s The Lark Theater continues its revue, Side by Side by Sondheim, featuring a collection of Stephen Sondheim’s most beloved songs, through May 25. The show includes classics like “Send in the Clowns” (A Little Night Music), “Side by Side” and “Company” (Company), “I’m Still Here” and “Broadway Baby” (Follies) and more. The songs, performed by...
A recent survey by the Leadership Now Project, a bi-partisan pro-democracy group of 400 corporations, reveals that 85% of business leaders believe a well-functioning democracy is essential to a healthy business climate, and 78% are concerned about the condition of American democracy today. Hey, no kidding.
Another way of looking at it is that 15% don’t care about democracy, and...
