Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Sunnyvale Art & Wine Festival attendee Katie, 2, tries on hats at the Visor Lady booth.




Wine time a fine time

Festival organizers dub annual celebration a big success

By Sam Scott

Sunny skies and a large crowd added the things the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce couldn't and helped make last weekend's 26th annual Sunnyvale Arts & Wine Festival a success.

Crowds filled the entire downtown area, from Washington Avenue to Murphy Avenue to the Town and Country shopping center. Cars blanketed the Town Center Mall parking lot, causing some drivers to park as far as a half mile away to get to the festival. A barbecue area and live bands gave a place to rest and others to dance. Groups from some of Sunnyvale's largest corporations and some of its smallest business volunteered at the booths.

Suzi Blackman, the president of the Chamber, which plans the annual event, said with the exception of running out of beer and wines glasses the festival went very well.

"This was a really good festival," she said. "Everyone was raving about the entertainment."

She said this year appeared to have been more popular than last year's 25th anniversary.

O'Day Presley poses with one of his handmade carousel pieces.




Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer







Blackman said the Chamber sold over 15,000 decorated glasses, outstripping the supply. The souvenirs were required purchases for visitors wanting to buy drinks at the numerous beer and wine booths.

Blackman said the spurt in demand for the glasses may have been caused by the millennium theme of the decoration. The glass had a Sunnyvale 2000 design.

Chub Chub a 3 year-old green iguana, rides shotgun on the head of his owner, Kurt, a Sunnyvale resident.




Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer







The Chamber's profit won't be known until later this week. The Chamber is still wrapping things up and some vendors still need to be paid. Doors at the Chamber will be closed this week while they tie all the loose ends.

Blackman said the Arts and Wine Festival is Chamber's major fund-raiser, allowing it to keep membership fees low and to fund different programs.

The Chamber wasn't the only beneficiary of the festival. Many of the bars, restaurants, and coffee shops around Murphy Avenue seemed to be pulling in a brisk business from overflow from the festival.


Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Downtown Sunnyvale became a sea of festivities during the two-day festival.




Even as this year's festival finished, questions arose about next year's. Parking lots on the corner of Washington Avenue and Mathilda Avenue, which formed the food court and live entertainment area of the festival are slated to be developed into office space this summer.

Blackman said how the Chamber will plan for the changes has yet to be decided.

Public Safety

Those who insist on being right are sometimes wrong

Proposal to allow teachers exemption from income tax not well received

Joking about memory loss masks a fear of Alzheimer's disease

Sports Briefs

North-South All-Star Baseball Series

Central Coast Section girls swimming championship