Let's say you just flew in from the moon and were thinking about visiting Napa this weekend. First, you might hit a traffic detour and second, you might not get a hotel room. Rooms like the ones at the Napa River Inn are not happening without reservations. And if they had a room for you, you'd have to pay a lot for it, as in $565 a night.
Believe that because there's a rock concert in town and that's what people are paying per night for a VIP room and music package. Get ready for 65 acts on three different stages between Wednesday evening and Sunday.
Then, add the food and drink from 40 vineyards and 35 local restaurants including Marimoto, where executive chef Kang Kuan says reservations are up 40 percent this week largely because of the concert. It's so far, so good, for this first-time event. "It's rolling the dice, absolutely, a lot of people are gambling on the event, including the event organizer," Kuan said.
But if concert co-founder Gabe Meyers is feeling any pressure, he sure doesn't show it. His family has been part of the community since 1940. He says it's time for Napa to think bigger when it comes to music.
"You can only eat so much incredible Napa Valley food and drink so much great wine before you feel like you want to go dance off a little bit of those calories. So, we just recognized that there was an opportunity and we wanted to help some people, too," he said.
That's where the charity part comes in for non-profits. If you see an instrument on stage, there's a very good chance the band may take that instrument and offer it to an auction in which you might be able to bid on your very own souvenir of the very first Bottle Rock Festival in Napa.
