Although it began as way to lure more tourists to the valley during the quiet winter months, the Napa Valley Mustard Festival has garnered its share of attention from locals as well.

And local residents were well represented in lists of winners in the mustard photo contest, who were announced last weekend at the Photo Finish event at Mumm Napa Valley Winery.

Among the winners were Tina Thuell of St. Helena who garnered a first place in the professional category, while Vi Bottaro of Napa won an honorable mention. Bottaro, who recently moved to Napa to launch her career as a photographer, also won an honorable mention for in the Innovative category.

In the Innovative category William Craig of Napa won third place.

Napan Nori Fabor Corbett won first place in the Amateur category, while another Napan, Elston Rothemel, took second place.

Jordan Sampson of Napa won an honorable mention in the Amateur category, as did Ray Marcus of American Canyon. Marcus also won an award for an image in the Silverado category.

Attendance at the 13th annual Napa Valley Mustard Festival was "the best ever" according to Pat Summers, of Summers-McCann, which organizes the three-month long celebration, that begins with a lavish black-tie event at the Culinary Institute of America in January, and includes events in St. Helena and Calistoga, as well as the signature Marketplace, that was held at Copia in March.

The Mumm Photo Finish "was a wonderful grand finale event," Summers said, "and like with the Marketplace, we were blessed with a small window of good weather. In the words of Barry Levenson, curator of the Mt. Horeb Mustard Museum, 'the weather on Marketplace weekend is proof that God does love mustard!'"

Summers was enthusiastic about gaining sponsorship from American Express for the festival this year.

"Overall, the 13th annual Napa Valley Mustard Festival has been the most successful season of events in our history," she said. "A number of sponsors including Antique Fair, Sterling Vineyards and Vintage Estate have reported increases in sales during the months of February and March despite an exceptionally rainy season. We added a new fundraising element this year and have raised Katrina funding totaling approximately $36,000. We attribute much of our success to the support of American Express, our new presenting sponsor and official card of the Napa Valley Mustard Festival."