Thousands roll into Napa for rockin' BottleRock music fest

ByAmy Hollyfield and Wayne Freedman KGO logo
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Thousands roll into Napa for rockin' BottleRock music fest
The popular Bottlerock Napa Valley Festival opens today. Organizers are promising a bigger and better event after overcoming past financial challenges and last summer's Napa earthquake.

NAPA, Calif. (KGO) -- The popular BottleRock Napa Valley Festival opened Friday with long lines of people ready for the three-day event.

Organizers are promising a bigger and better event after overcoming past financial challenges and last summer's Napa earthquake.

"We're expecting about 45,000 more people. There will be well over 100,000 people," said Dave Graham, the CEO of BottleRock. "We found our niche. There's a demand that hasn't been met until now."

There are four stages for three days of music. The event will also feature local food, wine and beer. Some of the musical acts include No Doubt, Imagine Dragons and Snoop Dog.

PHOTOS: Napa's 2015 BottleRock Festival

Graham's tiered ticket pricing ranges from $149 a day to $3,000 for the weekend, and what they call platinum status.

"You pull up. Get champagne. Front row seats. Get a massage. Get to meet the bands," Graham said.

"A lot of people do food festivals well. A lot do music festivals well. BottleRock does both really well," said Kendall Coleman, a spokesperson with Williams-Sonoma.

The Williams-Sonoma culinary stage is where celebrities and chefs will meet to blend their skills together.

"We have Tony of Tony's Pizza fame over in San Francisco tossing pizzas to football players Vernon Davis and Charles Woodson. We have Snoop Dog rolling sushi with morimoto cocktails with liquid nitrogen," said Coleman.

If music and food aren't you thing, there is art. The Miner Winery is partnering with the Haight Street Art Center to showcase some old rock concert posters.

"I think people are going to be blown away and they will get nostalgic. This is really going to resonate with them, " said Lisa Barker with the Miner Winery.

The food garden has also been expanded. It features local restaurants and wineries.

Last summer's Napa earthquake actually brought with it an unexpected benefit to this concert. They had to tear down three buildings, which is giving organizers more room to do more. They think it will especially help the flow of people.

Locals have a mixed reaction to this festival. Some want to escape it, some want to embrace it. There are businesses that plan to close and others that plan to stay open later than usual.

The festival started two years ago but ran into trouble. The company that put it on lost $8 million and many vendors were not paid. But a new company took over, paid the debts and last year went smoothly

The festival will be held from May 29 to 31. The three-day passes are sold out, but single day are still available. They start at $139.

Click here for the full event schedule.

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