

Don’t
miss the fantastic Petaluma Wine, Jazz & Blues Festival on Saturday,
August 9th, 2008. The festival will feature a main event stage
showcasing nationally recognized jazz and blues artists in the Theater
Square District of downtown Petaluma with wine tasting set along the
scenic waterfront of the Petaluma River.

This
year’s festival will feature these talented artists: Big Bad Voodoo
Daddy The Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra featuring Sheila E., Juan
Escovedo & Peter Michael Escovedo Lydia Pense & Cold Blood The Peter
Welker All Stars with special guest Ron Thompson The Petaluma High
School Alumni Big Band
Adjacent to Theater Square and beside the picturesque Petaluma
River, more than 80 wineries will be pouring the Sonoma-Marin Fair’s
“North of the Gate Wine Competition” Sweepstakes, Best of Class,
Double Gold, Gold, and Silver Medal award-winning wines for festival
attendees. Wine tasting will begin at 1:00 PM and end at 6:00 PM.
The fine beers of the Lagunitas Brewing Company will also be available
for purchase.

A festival ticket is $45 which grants admission to all
performances and is redeemable for 6 wine tastes. A music-only ticket
is $35, and children 12 and under are free with a paying adult. Tickets will be available
for purchase after June 4th at www.ticketweb.com, McNear’s Restaurant
in Petaluma, The Last Record Store in Santa
Rosa, Back Door Disc & Tape in Cotati, and the Petaluma Area Chamber
of Commerce (ticket prices will increase $5 on the day of the event).
All proceeds of the festival will benefit the music education programs of all Petaluma area schools. The non-profit festival is sponsored by the Petaluma High School Music Boosters and the Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce.

An
adjunct to the Petaluma Wine, Jazz & Blues Festival will be a
street fair featuring a variety of fine art paintings, specialty
food vendors, and additional music spread throughout the
Theater
Square District and available to the general public. Festival
attendees will have in and out privileges to go between the
public and festival only areas.
This year, the Petaluma Wine, Jazz & Blues Festival will be part of Petaluma’s Sesquicentennial Celebration, and will take place the day before the Petaluma River Festival.
Throughout the weekend, the Petaluma River will be filled with sailing vessels of all kinds, and will provide a spectacular backdrop to the Wine, Jazz & Blues Festival.
Gates will open at 11:30 AM, the first band will perform at 12:00 PM, the wine tasting begins at 1:00 PM, and the festival concludes at 8:00 PM. The festival location is 2nd Street between B & C Streets.