MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2024. BY STEPHANIE BOLTON, PhD, LODI WINEGRAPE COMMISSION.
Once every year during harvest, Lodi grape growing history is brought to life in a big and special way while the Lodi Grape Festival Grounds (413 E Lockeford Street, Lodi) hosts a full-blown carnival, including rides and treats for all ages.
For locals and the ever-expanding crew of folks who have fallen in love with Lodi, the Lodi Grape Festival provides a rare treat: a glimpse into the unique, fascinating history of the Lodi wine region. You really cannot understand Lodi until you attend a Grape Festival.
Though deep-fried Oreos are amazing in their own right, those of us who treasure Lodi vineyards and wines find greater satisfaction inside the huge Ole Mettler Grape Pavilion at the Festival. Here we step back in time to the days of the original Grape Festival called the Tokay Carnival (1907) and the first years of our Lodi Grape Festival (started in 1934). On display are beautiful handmade gowns of former Lodi Grape Royalty – literally, Grape Festival Queens and their Courts of Grape Festival Princesses. Real, non-digitized photographs of days past spark a warm feeling of nostalgia and resilience (see my favorite photo below and to the left). Local children submit lug boxes of grapes to be judged by experts along with traditional grape murals encompassing 8-10,000 grapes each.
1969 Lodi Grape Festival’s Queen Lana Mirko with hefty clusters of Flame Tokay. Lodi Grape Festival.
In the true spirit of a farming community, admission prices are kept low and can be further reduced by bringing donations of canned food. Learn more about tickets HERE.
Lodi Grape Festival
September 12-15, 2024
413 E Lockeford St, Lodi CA
Thursday, September 12 – 4 to 11 pm
Friday, September 13 – 12pm to Midnight
Saturday, September 14 – 12pm to Midnight
Sunday, September 15 – 12 to 11pm
If you still need even more of a reason to visit the Lodi Grape Festival this year, Smash Mouth is performing on the evening of Saturday, September 14. No separate tickets are required to enjoy the concert. We’ll see you there!
Below, various photographers capture the essence of the Lodi Grape Festival over time (adapted from Randy Caparoso’s Lodi Wine blog posts):
Picture postcard (mailed out in 1909) depicting the nearly mile-long procession of grape growers entering the city beneath the Lodi Arch on the first day of the 1907 Tokay Carnival.
The first Lodi Grape Festival Queen Tokay in 1934, 21-year-old Marie Graffigna. Lodi News-Sentinel, Lodi Historical Society.
1936 Lodi Grape Festival, a three-day harvest festival kicking off under the city’s historic Mission Arch. Ralph Lea, Lodi Historic Society.
Late 1930s—Roma Wines float at the Lodi Grape Festival parade. San Joaquin County Historical Museum.
1941 Lodi Grape Festival beauty queens showing off Lodi’s #1 (at the time) agricultural product, Flame Tokay grapes. Lodi Grape Festival.
1940s Lodi Grape Festival publicity photo showing off Flame Tokay around a wood press and vineyard barn. Lodi Historic Society.
1955 Lodi Grape Festival Queen, Alice Bauer. Courtesy photo.
In July 1957, newly elected Lodi Grape Festival Queen Janice Leach performed her civic duty, ribbon cutting over a new section of California Hwy. 99 in the Lodi area. Lodi News-Sentinel.
Panels from the expansive mural painted by John Garth (1960) depicting Spring, Summer, and Autumn in Lodi wine country, on the walls of the Lodi Grape Festival’s Ole Mettler Grape Pavilion. Randy Caparoso.
Spectacularly intricate grape mural in 2010, one of many that are created and displayed at every Lodi Grape Festival, utilizing fruit donated by Lodi grape growers. Randy Caparoso.
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