New Farmers Market, WC’s annual Art and Wine Festival

In terms of good food and drink it’s going to be a busy weekend in Walnut Creek.

It starts with the official opening Saturday morning of Walnut Creek’s newest farmers market. The Diablo Valley Farmers Market opens 9 a.m. off Ygnacio Valley Road at Mitchell Drive and North Wiget Lane.

With this new market, Walnut Creek will have two each weekend, and three each week between May and October.

The others are the year-round market held in downtown Walnut Creek on north Locust Street every Sunday, until 1 p.m. and the Friday morning market at Rossmoor’s Gateway Clubhouse, 9:30 to 11:30, from May to October.

Then on Saturday, we have the start of the Chamber of Commerce’s 28th annual Art and Wine Festival. This will take place Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Heather Farm Park.

The chamber says the event will feature top-quality music and entertainment on two fully equipped sound stages, thousands of distinctive hand-made crafts and works of art form more than 200 artisans.

But come on. If we go, a fair number of us, sure, will listen to the lovely music and gaze and perhaps even purchase some of the jewelry, pottery, clothing, and textiles on display by skilled artisans.

But, really, we’ll go to taste to wine and beer, and maybe get a little tipsy and feel rather wonderful about the world and life. Anything wrong with that? It's been a rather difficult year, what with the recession and the constant drumbeat of news about cuts to state and local services.

Seeking this bit of sensory escape is, of course, perfectly civilized and perhaps, as some researchers say, healthy. Moreover, high-quality wine and beer makers do think of themselves of artists—of flavor, of the palate, of the whole sensory experience of tasting and sharing these beverages in the company of friends and loved ones.

Anyone who knows me knows I have a fondness for red vino, but they should also know I don’t consider myself a “supertaster,” with any kind of sensitive discernment of the subtleties of flavors and texture.

Actually, for non-supertaster-knuckleheads like me, the Walnut Creek Marriott is hosting the Wine Experience, a “series of educational and interactive wine appreciation seminars, at no cost.” These will be conducted by local wine experts and held both days, in the Lakeside Room at Heather Farm Park throughout Saturday and Sunday.

The festival also features a grape stomp on both Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 1:30 p.m. We should or shouldn't hope it gets as delightfully out of control as that showcased in the famous episode of the 1950s TV comedy I Love Lucy. That episode is pictured above and you can view the YouTube video of it here.

For more information about the Diablo Valley Farmers market at Shadelands, click here.

For more information about the Sunday downtown Walnut Creek Farmers Market on North Locust Street, click here.

For more information about the Walnut Creek Art and Wine Festival, visit the Chamber of Commerce website. The site also has information about tickets and about parking and shuttle transportation to the event.

Finally, here is more detailed information about the wine- and beer-makers that will be participating.