The Walnut Creek Art & Wine Festival is the East Bay's classic start-of-summer weekend: two days in early June with 200-plus artisan booths, continuous live music on two stages, a craft beer garden and long pours of California wine for the grown-ups, and a Kids' Zone that makes it a legitimately good family outing rather than a stroller-through-the-crowds endurance test. It's put on by the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce, it's free to walk in, and the concerts are free too — you spend on food, drinks, and whatever art follows you home. The one thing longtime attendees need to know: the festival has moved. After decades at Heather Farm Park, it now sets up at Civic Park downtown (Civic Drive at North Broadway) while Heather Farm undergoes construction for a new aquatics center. The 43rd edition ran June 6–7, 2026; the first-full-weekend-of-June pattern is a safe bet for planning the next one.
Since 2025 the festival has run at Civic Park, 1375 Civic Drive at North Broadway — a flatter, more compact, more walkable footprint than Heather Farm, and close enough to downtown that you can duck out to Walnut Creek's restaurants and return. The move is tied to Heather Farm Park's aquatics-center construction, so treat the location as year-to-year: check the Chamber's official page each spring before you set your navigation. The park's lawns and mature trees give you shade and blanket space the old site's open fields didn't always deliver.
The Kids' Zone anchors the family side with children's activities, and recent editions have run a festival train — the kind of small, cheap thrill that buys parents another hour of booth browsing. Two stages run continuous free music all weekend, and early afternoon sets tend to be the family-friendliest window; by late Saturday afternoon the beer garden crowd sets the tone. Food booths cover festival standards; lines peak 12:30–2pm, so feed kids early or late. Sunday, which ends earlier, is the calmer family day.
Don't hunt for downtown parking on festival weekend. The festival runs a free Park & Shuttle from both Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill BART stations, which turns the trip into part of the fun for train-obsessed kids — and there's a free supervised bike valet if you're rolling in from the Iron Horse Trail. Ride-share drop-off is at Civic Park itself. If you drive anyway, expect downtown garages to fill by midday Saturday.
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It runs the first weekend of June — the 2026 (43rd annual) edition was June 6–7, Saturday 12–8pm and Sunday 12–6pm. Watch walnut-creek.com in spring for the next dates.
No — the festival moved to Civic Park (1375 Civic Dr) starting in 2025 while Heather Farm Park undergoes construction for a new aquatics center. Confirm the venue on the Chamber's page each year.
Admission and the concerts are free. You pay for food, wine and beer tastings, and shopping among the 200+ artisan booths. Tasting prices aren't published in advance — bring a card.
Yes — there's a dedicated Kids' Zone, a festival train in recent editions, and free live music. Sundays and early afternoons are the most family-friendly; late Saturday leans toward the wine-and-beer crowd.