What’s Going On?

The 39th Annual Millbrae Art & Wine Festival is a street fair that is held on the Labor Day weekend. The festival spans about 8-10 blocks or roughly about 3/4 of a mile. Throughout the festival there are countless numbers of arts and crafts booths, as well as food booths. On northern end of the festival there was a small kid’s carnival that had several rides.

A few things about this street fair that I found to be of interest and one of my favorites is the fact that it felt homey and that it had a small town feel. Although it was crowded and large, it did not feel that way.

Present at the festival were the Millbrae police and fire department with the police department raising funds from a water dunk tank. This street fair also had the small town feel by showcasing a couple vintage cars that dated back to the mid-1900s and a few makes of Ford Mustangs.

The festival had two stages; one for live music and the other for talent searching. At a couple of corners of the festival were beer and wine booths. Where purchasing of alcohol was done by using tokens/tickets and by using special beer and wine glasses produced for this festival to be used again and again. Food vendors also were on a few corners and all the food booths smelled and looked delicious.

Two things that I found to be unique at this festival was being able to see planes and vehicles made from beer and soda cans and a street artist by the name of Michel Saga who sings to French music using a barrel organ. The barrel organ is played by turning a crank and feeding an accordion-like ream of cardboard that has slotted holes in it for the music box to play chords accordingly. Such a fascinating contraption made me wonder and wonder how such a machine like that worked. I wanted to see the inside of the box, but was out of luck. Maybe one day I’ll get a chance to see what lies in one of those barrel organs.

Next year, plan on coming to this wonderful street festival. It is a great and relaxing place to enjoy the weekend in the warm summer sun. The festival is also good to support local businesses/artists as well as getting to try different types of beer and wine. Parking may be a little difficult, but get here early next year and make sure you keep your eyes peeled. The festival is a two day event and if time allows you check it out on both days, you won’t regret it.

Pictures of the Millbrae Art & Wine Festival can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Feel free to leave comments below for the pictures and the posting.