When one considers a visit to the Napa Valley, America’s premier viticultural area, a three-day music festival with a culinary stage may not be what they have in mind.
That is, unless they know about BottleRock.
Launched in May 2013 as a multi-day Memorial Day festival in downtown Napa, BottleRock has grown in popularity each year. This year’s three-day event, presented by JaM Cellars but postponed by COVID-19, will take place at the Napa County Fairgrounds during the Labor Day holiday, Sept. 3 to 5.
Stevie Nicks, Guns N’ Roses and the Foo Fighters, who will headline this year’s all-star music lineup, are among 80 acts that will perform on four stages. The Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage, meanwhile, will draw dedicated epicureans to watch celebrity chefs prepare meals as pop icons such as Martha Stewart entertain.
Because of its food-forward twist, BottleRock is not just for millennials. Older adults may channel stadium-concert memories even as they discover newer music in the likes of Miley Cyrus, Cage the Elephant, G-Easy and Jimmy Eats World, while tuning in to lesser known acts such as Hobo Johnson, Watchhouse and Oliver Riot.
The musicians will perform in a gourmet Disneyland that brings them together with famous chefs, athletes, actors, comedians and other stars. BottleRock guests may see Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto teacher rapper Snoop Dog how to roll sushi, as he did in 2017. They can expect to see such personalities as country singer Trisha Yearwood of “Trisha’s Southern Kitchen,” Padma Lakshmi of “Taste the Nation,” Andrew Zimmern of “Bizarre Foods,” and cookbook authors Duff Goldman and Gail Simmons from previous years.
Past BottleRocks have seen the Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis sharing her demonstration kitchen with singer-songwriter Halsey, who abandoned the skillet to perform on the main music stage; celebrity chef Charlie Palmer with comedian George Lopez and football Hall of Famers Ronnie Lott and Charles Woodson; and Morimoto, who played ball in Japan, teaming up with baseball legend Barry Bonds.
This year’s Williams Sonoma stage lineup will be revealed in late August, but attended should expect another star-studded mashup of rockers, chefs, celebrities and other cultural icons.
And not surprisingly in the Napa Valley, there will be food offerings from such acclaimed restaurants as Press, Mustard’s Grill and Goose & Gander, with stellar vintages from iconic wineries and craft breweries.
Festival attendees may relax and rejuvenate at a spa that includes holistic rituals, hydration, foot reflexology, mini facials, men’s and women’s hair styling, makeup and more.
In 2018, Olympic gold medal-winning snowboarder Shaun White told an interviewer: “I look forward to the food as much as I look forward to the music.” And in spite of the pandemic disappointments, BottleRock just keeps getting better.
