Sunnyvale Art and Wine Festival Kicks off despite the hot weather
A large variety of vendor booths at the Sunnyvale Art and Wine Festival.
October 11, 2021
Downtown Sunnyvale was hot, all while the sound of live music floated through the air and the white tents of vendor booths spotted the street. Murphy Avenue was filled with smells from the restaurants and the lively buzz of festival attendees.
Many people came out to check out the event despite the hot weather.
“We’ve gotten all sorts of questions and have interacted with different kinds of people from all different areas,” said Shivank Dhamija, 15, Monta Vista High School. “I’m pretty sure there was someone from the North Bay Area.”
The Sunnyvale Art and Wine Festival was focused on the local vendors and organizations. Many charitable organizations like the Octagon Club, California Chins, Chinchilla Rescue and the Boy Scouts had booths at the festival
“I’m an officer of a volunteer club in Monta Vista High School called Octagon,” Dhamija said. “Basically we go around to different community events and we just volunteer in hope of giving back to the community.”
The Octagon club had a booth selling cold drinks and snacks. The members stood around their booth to attract people to raise money for charitable organizations like “Make a Wish Foundation” and the “Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.”
The Art and Wine festival didn’t have any food vendors. The only food options were nearby restaurants.
“It was too hot for me to be out there too long and there was not enough food, but there was an entertaining variety of vendors selling nonfood related items such as jewelry, paintings, novelties and clothing,” said Gabriel Estrada, 20, former De Anza College student.
In-person events making a comeback has helped local businesses and artists as well.
“I’ve been coming to this show, somewhere between 10 and 15 years,” said Jeanne Dayne, a vendor from Jeeba Jewelry. “We do shows nearly every weekend and I do this art gallery at the Miramar about once a month, so that’s another option that I’ve been able to do during the COVID-19 years.”
Dayne ran a booth for Jeeba Jewelry, where she sold different types of jewelry such as rings, earrings and necklaces. Upon purchasing jewelry, Dayne even offered to have it custom fit for the buyer as well as polish the jewelry.
Jeeba Jewelry’s booth appealed to many festival attendees with the friendly and comfortable atmosphere Dayne created through chatting with customers.
“My husband has been making jewelry for nearly 14 years,” Dayne said. “It started when we lived in Australia, so Jeeba Jewelry is an Australian aboriginal name, which means ‘let’s get together’ and the jewelry has a vintage organic inspiration.”
Bay Area locals can now get together and attend in-person events, with festivals and farmer’s markets making a comeback for excited locals.
These events are small steps to get a sense of normalcy after many events were postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19.
“It’s a good step towards familiarity in my hometown after it being so different for so long due to COVID-19,” said Estrada.
