Nearly a mile of Castro Street in downtown Mountain View shuts down to cars this weekend for the 54th annual Art & Wine Festival, a free two-day street fair packed with more than 400 artisan booths, live music on two stages, and a wine garden pouring tastings from eight heritage wineries. The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, stretching along Castro Street from El Camino Real to Evelyn Avenue.
According to the Mountain View Voice, which cited a Mountain View Chamber of Commerce press release, the festival offers more than 22 wine tastings alongside craft beer, canned cocktails and other beverages for purchase, with wine-tasting tickets priced at $55. The Chamber of Commerce hosts the annual event, which first launched in 1971 as the organization's original fundraiser and, per Funcheap, is expected to draw 150,000 attendees in 2026.
Beyond the wine garden, the festival's footprint includes a kid-friendly zone with games and activities, plus a community-created mural where visitors can add their own artwork. Funcheap's rundown of this year's lineup also points to an Xfinity Pigskin Party Lounge showing live sports, including football and baseball, on a giant LED screen, an Italian Street Painting Block Party, and a DJ Dancepark for those looking to dance between wine pours.
A Downtown Built for the Crowd
The festival's home turf isn't just a temporary street closure — it's a permanent fixture of Mountain View's redesigned downtown. The 100 to 300 blocks of Castro Street were converted into a car-free pedestrian mall after the city closed them to vehicles during the pandemic for outdoor dining, according to San José Spotlight. The same report notes the city is now pursuing a $1.7 million capital project to install 21-foot-wide central crosswalks at the Villa and Dana street intersections, aiming to eliminate the side-crosswalk breaks that currently interrupt the corridor's walkability.
The festival also sits inside Mountain View's 2026 Downtown Entertainment Zone pilot project, a city initiative built to support outdoor dining, street activations and foot traffic along historic Castro Street. That framing positions the weekend fair as more than a one-off street party — it's a proving ground for the city's broader push to revive downtown commerce.
Getting There, Parking and Ground Rules
Transit riders have a direct path in: Caltrain, VTA Light Rail and local VTA bus lines all drop passengers at the Mountain View Transit Center, located right at the festival's main entrance at Evelyn Avenue and Castro Street, per the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival's own event details. Drivers can find $20 off-street parking at the 444 Castro Street garage, where the lot is managed by Day Worker Center volunteers as a fundraiser, according to Funcheap's event listing.
Festival organizers are also leaning on local partners to handle the environmental side of hosting tens of thousands of visitors. Recology Mountain View and the City of Mountain View operate composting, recycling and waste diversion stations throughout the grounds, per See California. The festival has a no-pets policy.
What It Takes to Set Up a Booth
The festival's 400-plus booths are filled by artists, and the Chamber hosts the event.
Admission to walk the festival grounds remains free, with wine tastings and food and drink purchased separately. Full festival information, including the schedule for both stages of live music and entertainment, is available at mvartwine.com.
