Rain doesn't dampen Yountville's bright festival

By BIANCA P. GALLEGOS, Register Staff Writer

With a fresh new theme, the 17th annual Festival of Lights set Yountville aglow Friday with thousands of lights. This year the town was lit with amber lights to remind people of the mustard festival.

The all-day festival, which drew 3,000 to 5,000 people over the course of the day, featured wood carving demonstrations, silent auctions, carolers, dancers, caricature and balloon artists and a visiting Santa Claus, who had children and parents lined up for the opportunity to share their Christmas wishes and take pictures.

A beaming Analise Ilsley, 6, said she asked Santa for a two-wheel scooter for her (and one on behalf of her 5-year-old sister), a chicken limbo game and a kitchen to pretend to cook like her parents.

Restaurants and wineries lured people into their restaurants, passing out samples along the stretch of Washington Street that was closed to traffic.

Throughout the festival tourists and residents of Napa got a glimpse of what this town has to offer.

"You can feel the liveliness of this town," said Henry Martinez. "Everyone is very friendly and the environment is very interactive."

Martinez, who came to Napa for the first time to spend the holidays with a friend, said that the Festival of Lights "is the perfect event for the residents of Napa to have on the day after Thanksgiving knowing that a lot of families from out of town will come to visit."

"It's good to get away from the typical city holiday season and see all the beauty that Napa has to offer," said tourist Arturo Villarreal. "The gourmet food, the great wine and the music gave the festival that extra ingredient that made the evening all the better."

Martinez and Villarreal both admired the festival's special character as a place where people can bring the entire family, including pets -- an unusual sight in their native city of Los Angeles.

Chamber of Commerce Executive Vicky Baxter said this year the millions of amber lights that will illuminate the town are to remind people to come back to Yountville for the Mustard Festival on March 25. "The mustard starts growing in the spring from a beautiful yellow plant." These kinds of events also serve as a tool to promote the town, "the food and accommodations is what Yountville is known for."

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