In third year, Napa's BottleRock looks to crush attendance records

NAPA - Tens of thousands of music fans and gourmands are expected to pour into Napa starting Friday for BottleRock, a three-day event that is marking its third year and appears to have found its groove.

The likes of Robert Plant and Gwen Stefani playing a venue that also serves as Napa’s fairgrounds is no longer a matter of shock here. Instead, such big-name acts - among more than 70 playing this weekend - are now expected as part of the BottleRock experience.

To kick it up a notch, the festival this year is adding a new culinary stage bringing musicians together with celebrity chefs, including rapper Snoop Dogg, who is expected to demonstrate his rolling techniques.

Sushi rolling, that is. Snoop will be paired with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.

Advance ticket sales for the music festival have been strong, said organizer Dave Graham, who predicted Thursday that total attendance over three days would top 100,000 and shatter previous records for BottleRock. Graham said he wasn’t anticipating major issues to arise with the larger crowds.

“I’m not nervous, which makes me nervous that I’m missing something,” said Graham, CEO of Latitude 38 Entertainment, which owns and organizes the event.

Graham observed the final preparations Thursday on the new “Sky Deck” at the Napa Valley Expo. The elevated area for VIP customers offers terrific views of the festival’s main stage, as well as private food and bar service.

The festival grounds feel more open this year, an unexpected upside of the magnitude-6.0 earthquake that rocked Napa in August and resulted in two of the expo’s main halls being red-tagged and torn down. Grandstands used for demolition derbies and other large events were also removed.

The food garden has been dramatically expanded, featuring numerous local restaurants and wineries. At the booth for Il Posto, an Italian restaurant in Napa, co-owner Justin Graffigna was busy pulling together a menu that will include meatball sandwiches.

“It’s huge. It’s a great event,” Graffigna said.

Gates open at 11 a.m. Friday. Single day tickets were still available Thursday through the festival for $149. Three-day premium passes were running $3,000.

Graham said some vendors have returned this year after skipping last year out of concern for the festival’s viability. Latitude 38 took over from the festival’s founders, who produced a top lineup of bands for the inaugural event in 2013 but also left behind a raft of financial problems.

Graham said all of the festival’s bills will be paid on time this year and that the event will generate a profit.

“It’s a viable business,” Graham said. “We’re proving there is demand for this model.”

Concerns about the festival’s impact on the surrounding neighborhood also appear to be muted this year. Graham said a community meeting organized by the festival a few weeks ago drew only 10 people and nobody lodged any complaints.

Among the changes this year are expanded parking areas within a half-mile of the expo grounds so people can walk to the event. Organizers also increased the budget for CHP officers to help direct traffic.

In downtown Napa, Steve Geare, a retired marketing professional and driver for the app-based ride service Uber, said he was expecting to have a busy weekend shuttling people around in his black Mazda 3.

That includes giving his daughter a ride to the venue Friday night.

“She said ‘Dad, I might as well pay you,’?” Geare said.

Joe Anderson, chief executive officer of the Napa Valley Expo, said the venue would have struggled to rebound from earthquake damage were it not for BottleRock, which ponied up $800,000 to rent the facility for three weeks.

“The gates may be closed at this point,” Anderson said Thursday inside a bingo hall converted into a media room for journalists covering the festival.

As in previous years, business owners in the downtown Napa area expressed mixed opinions about BottleRock’s return.

Singer-songwriter Gary Wm. Koehler said he loves that BottleRock brings so many quality acts to town. But from a business standpoint, Koehler, a tasting room manager at Capp Heritage on First Street, said he’s not a fan of the event.

“It doesn’t bring business to us, but I’m a music dude, so I can’t bash it for that,” Koehler said.

At Napa Running Company, however, employees were anticipating a busy weekend selling hats, sunglasses and other items people tend to need for an outdoor music festival.

Assistant Manager Leslie Parker said BottleRock draws “a whole new age group to Napa - the college set and young people, who might not come here otherwise.”

And for those who may imbibe a little too much on the festival’s opening day, the running store is hosting a “Detox Dash” at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.