Novato To Hold Annual June Festival, Sans The Music

NOVATO, CA — The Novato Chamber of Commerce will hold a modified version of its annual June festival in lieu of COVID-19 restrictions. It hopes to hold the full-blown Art & Wine Festival later this summer.

The two-day Art Stroll will be held June 26-27. Admission is free.

The Art Stroll will be held on Grant Avenue between Redwood Boulevard and Seventh Street, the normal site of the Art & Wine Festival.

The event will be held without music.

The event will feature artist vendors from throughout the Bay Area including some from Novato.

It will be held in adherence with state and local health orders that will include social distancing and mask-wearing.

The event will also feature games and attractions for children of all ages.

Food and beverages including beer and wine will be served in a designated area.

“People won’t be able to sip wine and walk down the street,” chamber Events Director Christina Niles told Patch.

The chamber hopes people will be able to do Aug. 21-22, the tentative dates for this year's Art & Wine Festival, but Niles said it won’t know whether it will be able to hold the event until after the state’s June 15 reopening.

The Art & Wine Festival is among North Bay’s most popular festival, typically attracting crowds of around 80,000 over a two-day period, Niles said.

Correction: A previous version of this article that ran under the headline "Novato To Hold Annual June Festival, Sans The Wine" inaccurately reported that only non-alcoholic beverages would not be served at the Art Stroll. Beer and wine will be served in a designated area only at this event.