Wineries, Beers, Bands & Fun In L.A.’s Wine Country
The 2018 event is June 1-3 and involves – as the name suggests – wines and balloons in a festival atmosphere. And guys, there’s also beer, and plenty of it.
It’s a good event for singles because there’s nothing else like it in the area, and it brings in people from San Diego, the surrounding Temecula area and all parts of Los Angeles.
Singles Go In Groups
Singles go to it in groups with Saturday being the prime day; they either have a designated driver or stay in the Temecula area and go wine tasting the next day. A big attraction is the music; in 2016 the bands include Common Sense (Friday night) and Jimmy Eat World (Saturday).
Naturally, with all the wineries here, it’s a big attraction for girls. The wineries have booths lined up and you buy drink tickets and kind of “bar hop” from one tasting area to another.
There’s also lots of shopping; cute wine accessories and other wine-related items are by the wine tasting stations and there’s more festival-type of things for sale in an area between the wine and main concert area.
As far as the party scene, it really picks up in the late afternoon. And it’s a casual affair because it’s really a combination of wine, beer, live music and almost a hippie-ish scene in the main vendor booth area.
The one thing to know is that the event takes place in a large area – Lake Skinner Recreation Area – and here’s your singles party tips:
• Arrive by 2 o’clock. This provides enough time to get a feel for the layout, try some beers and wines and get geared up for the rest of the day and night.
• Spend the afternoon in the infield area by the wine and beer stations
• Go to the Balloon Glow starting at dusk
• Go to the concert after the Balloon Glow
You’ve got to get up pretty early to see the balloons. They take off at daybreak and to ride in them you have to make reservations weeks in advance.
But you can still see them up close; one of the event highlights is the Balloon Glow just after dark in the infield on Friday and Saturday evenings. Here, you can get up close to the balloons and often the captain fires off a burst of hot air which lights up the balloons as well as the night air.
Temecula Wine & Balloon Festival Facts
• Tickets: Friday & Sunday, $23 in advance, $30 at the gate. Saturday, $33 in advance, $40 at the gate. Full weekend, $60 Beer & Wine tickets are 12 for $24 and 30 for $60; wine tastings are one ticket, a glass of wine is four tickets, beers are four and five tickets. Parking: $7 in advance, $10 on site.
• 2018 Bands (Main Stage)
– Friday: Safety Orange (6 p.m.) Spin Doctors 7 p.m.) Sugar Ray (8:30 p.m.)
– Saturday:– Robot Nature (3:30 p.m.), Haabostank (4:30 p.m.,), Fuel (5:30 p.m.) Lifehouse (7 p.m.), The Wallflowers (8:30 p.m.)
– Sunday: – Luci (1 p.m.), Raelynne (1:45 p.m.), Tyler Farr (2:30 p.m.), Justin Moore (3:30 p.m.)
• Location: Lake Skinner Recreation Area, 37701 Warren Road, Winchester, CA
• Event Website: www.tvbwf.com
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