Justin Timberlake, Green Day, Noah Kahan, and Benson Boone all top the lineup at this weekend's music festival for wine lovers — and celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Kristin Kish, and Antoni Porowski will all be on the Culinary Stage.
The Music
The 12th annual edition of BottleRock Napa Valley kicks off Friday at noon, and the lineup — which is typically aimed at a slightly older and more mature demographic than Outside Lands or Coachella — includes heavy hitters like Justin Timberlake and Bay Area legends Green Day (who actually just played at Coachella). This is Timberlake's last US stop on the world tour that he began over a year ago, before he heads to the final leg in Europe.
Green Day headlines Friday, May 23, and Friday's lineup also includes Public Enemy, Sublime, Sofi Tukker, Kaskade, Remi Wolf, and E-40 — who'll be playing on the VIP Village stage.
JT headlines Saturday, along with Grammy nominee for Best New Artist Benson Boone, Ice Cube, 4 Non Blondes, and actress turned pop singer Kate Hudson.
Then, on Sunday, the big draw may be Noah Kahan, but Drama, Cage the Elephant, and Flo Rida will certainly bring in fans as well.
Single-day and three-day general admission tickets are still available, but VIP is sold out.
The Food, Drink, and Chefs
BottleRock has an even bigger and splashier culinary stage than Outside Lands, which is emceed by Bay Area TV personality Liam Mayclem, and a bunch of Food Network and other food world celebs will be making appearances and doing demos alongside musical guests. The headliners there are Bobby Flay (on Sunday); one of Flay's "Titans" on the Food Network, Brooke Williamson (Saturday), alongside Kate Hudson; Top Chef co-host and previous Top Chef winner Kristin Kish (Saturday), who'll be cooking alongside Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers; Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski (Sunday); and country star/food show host Trisha Yearwood, who'll be doing something Friday at 5:15 pm alongside the great Serena Williams.
As always, plenty of Napa (and Sonoma) wine will be poured, from the likes of Silverado Vineyards, Cuvaison, Beaulieu, Schramsberg, Duckhorn, Kosta Brown, and more. There will also be cocktail stations from Hendrick's Gin, Don Julio Tequila, 21 Seeds tequila, Tito's Vodka, High West, and Aperol.
And food-wise, you can expect an array of fairly fancy stuff, including caviar-topped lobster corndogs from Press and their new museum cafe Under-Study in St. Helena (see video below), sushi from Morimoto Napa, pizza from both Napa's Oenotri and SF's A16 and Pizzeria Delfina, barbecue from Stateline Road Smokehouse, and loaded fries from Meadowood chef Christopher Kostow's Loveski Deli.
Getting Into BottleRock and Setting Up Your Spot
By all accounts, you should be trying to arrive early any day you're planning to attend BottleRock, as this is a festival that most people drive to, and parking will be a challenge unless you've purchased a parking pass (many of these are already sold out).
Street parking in downtown Napa is generally free, but lots of folks will be on the hunt.
The box office, for picking up will-call wristbands and such, is located at 3rd and Bailey streets, and it will open at 10:30 am Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It's also open noon to 7 pm on Thursday, if you're in Napa early.
Bring an empty water bottle, as there will be stations for filling them.
Also, if you want a spot close to any of the stages to see your favorite artist or band, you should bring a blanket and stake your claim early in the afternoon — this is a thing, even though the standing crowds will invade your space when the big acts come on.
And be sure to wear sunscreen, bring extra, and bring a hat. The forecast calls for a high of 77 on Saturday, and a few degrees cooler on Friday and Sunday (also, clouds on Sunday). But there's a pretty big swing in temperature at night this time of year, with lows in the upper 40s, so bring layers!!