Hundreds of people walked along Half Moon Bay’s Main Street on Sunday, many clearly in high spirits while indulging themselves in food, wine and music. It was a scene not unlike the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival, but it was a new downtown draw — the inaugural Half Moon Bay Wine and Jazz Festival.
Organized by the Downtown Association and initially planned for 2020, the event closed Main Street to traffic from Mill to Correas streets as 38 wineries from across California poured 120 types of wine for attendees. The cool fog didn’t seem to damper spirits or attend-ance during the event window from 12 to 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon. San Francisco Mayor London Breed even made the trip down.
Colleen Henney, a board member of the Downtown Association, said that based on estimates from the city, about 5,000 people attended the event.
“I feel like it surpassed our expectations,” she said. “It was just exciting to see everyone en-joying the music so much. We had world-class musicians at this event.”
Henney noted that because of the good feedback from the city, vendors and organizers, there are plans to make it an annual event, and possibly a two-day event next year.
The day also served as a tribute to honor the late Bobby Hutcherson, a Coastside resident of 40 years and critically acclaimed jazz musician and vibraphonist. To honor him and his lega-cy, the Downtown Association used proceeds from the event to give five $5,000 scholarships to high school graduates who are studying the arts in college and $10,000 to local school mu-sic programs at Coastside schools.
While anyone could walk around the streets, a $75 ticket was required to get 15 tasting tickets and a commemorative wine glass. Buyers were also able to purchase bottles of their favorites. Dozens of tables were placed on the streets for attendees to relax, eat and drink.
For the jazz portion of the day, several musicians and groups took the stage erected at Kelly Avenue and Main Street. Half Moon Bay High School Jazz Band started things off, followed by the Bobby Hutcherson Tribute Band, then the Marcus Shelby Quintet. Last but not least, Paula West closed out the show.
Tealy Barr and her husband Greg traveled from their Barr Estates Winery in Paso Robles to pour their wine at one of the tables on Main Street. Barr said she felt the event lucked out on the weather, as it was 95 degrees at their winery in Central California.
The couple said their operation isn’t massive, and they produce around 2,000 cases of wine a year. Barr said this was the first wine festival they’ve ventured to in the last few years because of the pandemic.
“It’s been a really fun event, and they’ve been really well organized,” she said.
Tony Torres and his wife Ari traveled from Redwood Shores to try the wines and see the sights. Their favorite, at least by around 1 p.m., was a Curly St. James chardonnay. While Torres said his wife is much more of a wine fan than he is, he still had a fun outing down-town, his first visit to the town in 20 years.
“We looked it up and thought we’d head over,” he said. “It’s been a great event.”
Similarly, Matt Humphries drove from San Jose to check out Half Moon Bay for the first time in a while. Humphries said he frequents Half Moon Bay Golf Links, but this was his first time getting to know downtown. He said he came an hour before the event started just to beat the traffic.
“The turnout seems great, and people seem to be enjoying themselves,” he said.
For those who didn’t indulge in the wine, there was a beer garden pouring local beverages from Sacrilege Brewing, Hop Dogma, Blue Ocean Brewing, Santa Cruz Cider Co., Wood-house Brewing and Humble Sea. Most businesses on Main Street had their doors open throughout the event, so there was no shortage of food options. Several food trucks and ven-dors set up shop as well, including Sam's Chowder Mobile, Breakwater Barbecue, Alebrijes Oaxacan Kitchen, Pizza Pie and Moss Beach Kombucha. Main Street was bustling for hours on end, a scene the Downtown Association hopes to replicate.
“It’s good just to have people and town and bring awareness for our Main Street,” Henney said. “But it’s also great to be able to do events for the Half Moon Bay community. We’re happy to do that.”
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