Why was Sunnyvale’s Art and Wine Festival canceled this summer? And when? These are questions locals have been asking one another recently. The city’s Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the annual festival, says a lack of resources and funding led to its cancellation. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to have put out the word.
One of the South Bay’s largest free summertime events, the Sunnyvale Art and Wine Festival typically takes place in June and has been drawing thousands of locals and vendors to the city for almost 50 years. In the past, the CEO of the chamber has been tasked with organizing the festival and communicating with city staff, vendor promoters and community members.
But in October, because the CEO retired and the board had to take over, the board decided they didn’t have enough resources, time or funding to put on the 2024 event. They revisited the decision in February after receiving feedback from city staff and elected officials, but reached the same conclusion, Board Chair Andreu Reall said in a statement.
Reall did not immediately respond to a question about how much the festival costs.
The chamber said it is making plans to resume the event in 2025, which would be the 50th festival.
City spokesperson Jennifer Garnett said the festival is not a city-sponsored event, and the staff’s only role has been to approve the festival’s permit application. Staff are “as disappointed as everyone else to miss it this summer,” Garnett said.
Locals and festival participants say they are also disappointed that the cancellation was not made public.
Terry Allie, owner of California Artist — a service promoter that connects local artist vendors to Bay Area festivals — said he was not told about the decision until he contacted the chamber directly at the end of January. Allie claims the cancellation was due to mismanagement from the previous chamber director and the chamber’s failure to find a replacement. Reall did not immediately respond to a question about the mismanagement claim.
Longtime Sunnyvale resident Peter Cirigliano — who has been attending the festival since the ’80s — said he only heard about this year’s cancellation through a friend.
“It was disappointing that it was sort of canceled without so much as a notice or notification,” Cirigliano said. “It’s almost like they sort of hoped no one would notice.”
The 67-year-old looks forward to attending the festival during that first weekend in June, when he’ll spend time walking around downtown Murphy Avenue admiring the products of local artisans, listening to live music and basking in the “small town feel” the festival provides.
He still plans to make a trip to other upcoming art and wine events, like Mountain View’s in September, but prefers the convenience of Sunnyvale’s festival.
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“I prefer to go to the ones nearby, especially if I can bike to it,” he said.
In the past, Lisa Ramos, owner of Monolisa — a small business where she creates and sells handmade bags and jewelry — regularly attended Sunnyvale’s Art and Wine Festival to connect with her South Bay customers. The Clayton resident was looking forward to promoting and selling her products again at the 2024 festival before hearing about the cancellation from Allie.
“It’s a bummer because we rely on these events,” she said. “When these shows are canceled, it means you have to find another show to fill in that weekend, or else you won’t be making money.”
