Art & Wine Festival Bucks Recession

From the nearly 200,000 people and 600 vendors packed into seven blocks along Castro Street, the 39th Annual Mountain View Art & Wine Festival held this weekend went better than expected, according to organizers.

After an eight percent decrease in sales at the 2009 festival and aware of the tough economic times, the Chamber of Commerce Mountain View – who coordinated the yearly festival that took place the weekend of Sept. 11 and 12 – diversified the activities, food and drink options to reach a broader audience.

"This year's festival exceeded our revenue expectations from last year not only for the Chamber but artists and food vendors," said Oscar Garcia, president of the Chamber. "We not also had more sponsors but also a variety of them."

To maintain a high level of attendance, the Chamber and Comcast – a title sponsor – had 50-inch televisions for festival-goers to enjoy Giants baseball and the start of the professional football season. Also, as part of an effort to reach out to the Hispanic community, former goalkeeper and Mexican soccer superstar Jorge Campos made an appearance. One of the new sponsors to the event, the luxury automobile manufacturer Lotus Car USA, only participates in three festivals a year and chose Mountain View as a site, Garcia added.

"We are midpoint in the Peninsula and we have an affluent community," he said. "We are fortunate to live in Silicon Valley. We are kind of cushioned from the severity [of the economy]."

But steelwork artist Jeff Owens, who came up from San Jose to display his sculptures, felt the big and high-priced items had not sold to his expectation.

"This is not really my crowd because they are shopping for smaller items," he said. "My stuff is not useable. It's more of an accent piece for your home."

He appreciated the exposure he got, however.

"I'm getting some interest," said Owens. "If I don't advertise people won't know who I am."

Veteran festival vendor, Ray Laager of Romantic Jewelry, comes down to Mountain View twice a year from Chico to participate in the festivals. Laager felt this year's festival met his expectation but "it's still not as good as it used to be."

"It's the reality of the economy," he said. "The Peninsula has changed in the past five years. It's what we call 'the new economy.'"

The new economy did not keep people from shopping, enjoying the music or participating in the activities. Carol Langham and her husband did some modest shopping at the festival and purchased some baby clothes and wine glass holders.

"It's a good festival. It's big, one of the bigger ones," said Langham. "They have a lot of nice things, a lot of variety."

Mona Mistry has attended every year since she moved to Mountain View from Texas about thirteen years ago.

"It's a lot of fun to be part of the community and I wait all year to do this," said Mistry, who now has two daughters who attended with her. "The girls get exposed to different things. The first time she tried [rock-climbing] was on one of these at the festival."

As the sun began to set and the autumn breeze ruffled tree leaves, 32-year Mountain View resident Miguel Cabrera reflected on another festival gone by.

"The Mountain View Art & Wine Festival marks the end of the summer," he said. "This is the last weekend people wear their shorts and tank tops. This is like saying goodbye to summer."