The sauvignon blanc is chilled, and the beer is about to be tapped as the Oakland hills’ Montclair district prepares for its 11th annual Montclair Beer, Wine & Music Festival on June 14. This premier summertime celebration always transforms the district’s Montclair Village into a true sense of the word “village” as some 2,000 neighbors spill into the streets and plaza for the heady event.
The festival’s big draw is unlimited tastings of more than 50 craft beer, wine and ciders — many of them locally made. Tasting tickets are $55 in advance and $65 at the festival and include a commemorative glass. Event manager Jacob Cohen says about 1,000 people bought tasting tickets last year, netting the nonprofit Montclair Village Association about $15,000. Still, you don’t have to drink to have fun.
“It’s a free event with crafts, music, the Oakland Fire Department parade rig and lawn games,” says Cohen. Also, because it’s contained to a few square blocks, it’s a very intimate celebration in the heart of the Village from noon until 6 p.m. next weekend on Saturday.
Local beers are coming from popular vendors like Oakland United Beerworks in Jack London Square, Altamont Brewery in Livermore and Drake Brewery in Oakland. For wine, Montclair’s Farmstead Cheeses & Wines brings in specialty companies that pour varietals from many different regions, but locally you can also taste wines like Sapphire Hill Winery in Temescal Alley and P. Harrell Wines on Grand Ave. Sincere Cider, started as a passion-project in an Oakland garage, is also being served.
Montclair restaurants will also be serving during the festival, with Daughter Thai, El Agavero and Tante’s Catering selling street food. Live music will feature local bands Dos Four, Namorados Da Lua (NDL), the Khalil Abdullah Quartet and a performance by the Woodminster Summer Musicals. NDL’s Brazilian rhythms and fusion of reggae, jazz, pop, rock and funk are especially hot right now.
Ken Betts Co is the presenting sponsor of the festival, which you can read more details about and buy tickets to online at montclairvillage.com/beer-wine-music-festival.
Landmark update: Montclair’s storybook firehouse is one step closer to restoration and reopening as an arts center. It’s taken over two years, but an Oakland City Council committee has finally scheduled a hearing for the proposal at 1:30 p.m. June 24.
“Our board is very excited about these small steps forward,” says Nancy Lehrkind, the Grubb Co. real estate agent heading up the project. “The plans would include a handicap lift, a firehouse museum where they used to store the hook-and-ladder trucks, and the beautiful 15-by-25-foot social hall would be restored as a performing arts center.”
She hopes the council will take action as early as July, but negotiations over lease terms could stretch into autumn. Lehrkind is encouraging neighbors to say a few words supporting the project via a Zoom electronic Speaker Card. An important part of this is the surprisingly affordable budget for project. Lehrkind says the Montclair Firehouse Arts Center proposal could be achieved for just $420,000.
For more information on the project and how you can support it, visit montclairfirehouseartscenter.org online.
Bar scene: Another successful Asian American Pacific Island Cocktail Week is in the history books. If you missed last week’s events, one of which was a boozy, Polynesian sail out of Oakland’s Jack London Square, you can still catch the cocktails. Cocktail week founder Kevin Diedrich likes two Asian-inspired cocktail bars in Oakland — Tall Boy on Telegraph Avenue and Viridian on Broadway.
Ginny Prior can be reached at ginnyprior@hotmail.com and followed on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and at ginnyprior.com.