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Everything you need to know for the Lodi Grape Festival

With a concert by Los Lonely boys, more wine grapes than you can imagine, and even a petting zoo for the kids, the Lodi Grape Festival has something for everyone.

LODI, Calif. — With more than a hundred vendors, more grapes than you probably know exist, and even a petting zoo for the kids, the Lodi Grape Festival has a bit of something for everyone.

As one of the area’s longstanding festivals, the Lodi Grape Festival has been running for more than 80 years, and, while other festivals are known for their deep-fried asparagus or tomato ice cream, the Grape Festival lives and breathes for wine and the wine grape.

“Our area, where it used to be table grapes, now it's predominantly if not 100-percent wine grapes,” said Mark Armstrong, CEO of the Lodi Grape Festival.

“[The] main thing we do - We have a lot of wine here that you can not only buy but we have wine-tasting, which is a by-product of the grapes,” he added.

The Grape Festival will be coming around for its 2019 run. Here’s everything you need to know.

What is the Lodi Grape Festival?

“It’s a celebration of the harvest every year,” said Armstrong.

The Lodi Grape Festival has been running for more than 80 years and draws roughly 70,000 people to the festival every year.

While the focus is on the grapes and agriculture, there’s also food, a carnival, stage acts, and even a petting zoo to make it more family-oriented.

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What’s at the festival?

“There’s every variety of grape that you can imagine here,” Armstrong said. 

It just wouldn’t be a grape festival without more grape varieties on hand than you ever knew existed. The majority of the staple crop will be wine grapes, which are available to taste so long as you stay mindful of the seeds.

Armstrong says there’ll be a huge variety to try, ranging from big and small grapes to Chardonnay and Zinfandel grapes.

It may be needless to say, but there will be plenty of wine to drink, buy, and taste. One of the scheduled events is the Wine Cellar: A Wine Tasting Experience where people can try wine from nine different wineries. 

If wine isn’t your thing, there’s still plenty of other things to enjoy. Some of the highlights of the festival include:

  • JD Platt & the K9 Kings Dog Show
  • Wildlife Wendy and Her Tropical Birds
  • NASCAR simulator 
  • Concert line-up: Elton Rohn, The Grass Roots, Los Lonely Boys, and WAR

For a full schedule of events, click HERE.

How much are tickets?

Tickets for the festival range from $6 to $10 based on age.

  • Adult admission, ages 13 and older - $10
  • Youth admission, ages 6 to 12 - $6
  • Ages 5 and under – Free

The festival also offers pre-sale deals and value days throughout its run. 

  • Thursday, Family Value Day – Ages 16 and under get in free all day long
  • Friday, Free til’ 5 Day – everyone gets in free from noon to 5 p.m.
  • Saturday and Sunday, Two for $2 til’ 2 p.m. – Bring two cans of food to donate and get admission for $2 from noon to 2 p.m.

Tickets for admission and for the carnival ride wristband can be bought online HERE. Advance ticket deals are available until September 11.

Parking is $8.

Where and when is it?

The Lodi Grape Festival runs from September 12 to September 15.

Schedule:

Thursday – 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Friday – Noon to Midnight

Saturday – Noon to Midnight

Sunday – Noon to 11 p.m.

The Grape Festival is held at 413 East Lockeford Street in Lodi, CA.

Live traffic conditions can be viewed on the Waze map below:

WATCH ALSO: How does October rain affect the cost of wine in Lodi?

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