The 2024 edition of BottleRock Napa Valley brings three days of music, fine dining and regional wines to the North Bay this Memorial Day weekend with headliners Pearl Jam, Ed Sheeran, Stevie Nicks, Maná and more.
The music and food festival is held every year during the holidays at the Napa Valley Expo and has become one of Northern California’s premier events to kick off the summer season.
What is BottleRock Napa Valley?
The first iteration of BottleRock was actually a five-day event in 2013 that took place earlier this month, starting on May 8 and ending on May 12. With an estimated attendance of 120,000 over the five days, the event featured an array of classic rock, roots/Americana and alt-rock favorites, including the likes of Jackson Browne, the Black Crowes, Zac Brown Band, the Shins, Primus, the Avett Brothers, Joan Jett, Jane’s Addiction, the Flaming Lips, Kings of Leon, the Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Ben Harper, Violent Femmes, Café Tacvba and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
Although the event was largely well received, organizers were reportedly experiencing financial difficulties, leading some suppliers and companies providing transportation and security to claim they had not been paid. The following year, Napa-based production company Latitude 38 Entertainment acquired the rights to the festival brand and has been running it ever since.
When does BottleRock Napa Valley take place?
Since the inaugural event, the festival has been held in late May, but it wasn’t until the 2016 edition that the festival began taking place over Memorial Day Weekend. The festival was initially postponed until 2020 due to COVID, before organizers decided to move it to the following year.
In the fall of 2021, the festival was finally held after being pushed back from its traditional Memorial Day weekend dates following a more than year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite some challenges, including two headliners (Stevie Nicks and Chris Stapleton) canceling due to health concerns and non-COVID illness, the 2021 BottleRock Napa Valley staging was a roaring success that thankfully did not become a superspreader event. partly thanks to the safety measures taken by the organizers.
This year’s festival takes place from Friday to Sunday, May 24-26. The gates of the festival open every day at 11am and the first acts play at 12pm. The festival has a hard 10pm curfew that some acts have broken in the past, including Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters’ festival-closing set in 2017, where organizers had to pull the plug and end the show abruptly (much to the chagrin of festival visitors).
How much does it cost to attend BottleRock Napa Valley?
While 3-day general admission tickets start at $456 per person, including fees, all 3-day GA and VIP tickets for the festival have sold out since they went on sale in January. Single-day general admission tickets for Friday are still available for $243 each, but single-day tickets for Saturday and Sunday are also sold out. However, the festival has partnered with Lyte to provide attendees with a secure ticket marketplace for those looking to buy and sell their BottleRock passes. That website sells GA 3-day tickets for $399, with 3-day VIP experiences ranging from $2,099 to $6,599.
Who’s playing at BottleRock Napa Valley this year?
The headliners already announced in January This year’s edition of the festival will feature Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks and returning hip-hop diva Megan Thee Stallion on Friday, alt-rock greats Pearl Jam and acclaimed R&B singer Kali Uchis on Saturday evening, and festival closer Ed Sheeran and powerhouse rockers Queens of the stone age on sunday.
Other notable acts on the bill include Australian rapper The Kid LAROI, singer-songwriter Dominic Fike, Latin rock group Maná, roots rock crew My Morning Jacket, indie rock guitar giant St. Vincent and jazzy chanteuse Norah Jones. Nicks was one of the headliners for the 2021 festival, but canceled her performance due to COVID concerns. As usual for the festival, BottleRock will include a number of local acts in the lineup, such as East Bay soul/funk legends Tower of Power, Marin County alt-rock band The Alive and SF soul group Con Brio. Maná is also headlining the first edition of the affiliated Festival La Onda which will be held at the Napa Valley Expo on June 1 and 2, the weekend after BottleRock.
Below you will find a day-by-day overview of the acts performing at BottleRock. Additional information about the schedule for the nine performance areas at the festival can be found on the BottleRock website.
Friday May 24: Stevie Nicks, Megan Thee Stallion, St. Vincent, Nelly, Miike Snow, Bebe Rexha, Jessie Murph, All Time Low, Gogol Bordello, BoyWithUke, Chevy Metal, Loveless, Pete Yorn, Royel Otis, The Moss, Say She She, Chris Shiflett, Grace Bowers, ALEXSUCKS, The Takes, Fleece, Con Brio, Akira Galaxy, Sage Bava and Sanho
Saturday May 25: Pearl Jam, Maná, Kali Uchis, The Kid LAROI, My Morning Jacket, T-Pain, Oliver Tree, Cold War Kids, Tower of Power, Holly Humberstone, The Record Company, Jack Kays, LaRussell, Momma, Celisse, Deep Sea Diver , Mondo Cozmo, John Cruz, The Alive, Moonalice, Linka Moja, The Aquadolls, Grace McKagan, Mama Said, DJ Umami and the Napa Valley Youth Symphony.
Sunday May 26: Ed Sheeran, Queens of the Stone Age, Dominic Fike, Norah Jones, The Offspring, Stephen Sanchez, Cannons, Action Bronson, The Beaches, Stephen Marley, Colony House, The Soul Rebels feat: Talib Kweli, Monsieur Periné, Dehd, Bully, Windser, The Scarlet Opera, MonoNeon, Brittany Davis, Tors, Forrest Day, Jane Leo, Jared Harper, Naima, The Silverado Pickups
And Sophia Zamani.
The festival will also host a packed lineup of aftershows in Napa and San Francisco starting Thursday evening, with a number of bands performing at BottleRock – most notably Norah Jones, Gogol Bordello, St. Vincent, Action Bronson, Cold War Kids and Stephen Marley – headlining their own concerts at more intimate venues in Napa and other parts of the Bay Area for festival goers with the energy and money to purchase separate tickets.
What other attractions are near BottleRock Napa Valley?
In addition to the live bands, BottleRock also has two rooms – the Silent Disco and the Club – with DJs playing hip-hop and electronic music. Major turntable artists include Motion Potion, member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz and former Beastie Boys DJ Mixmaster Mike, Gavin Hardkiss, Kevvy Kev, Trackster the DJ and A-Trak.
BottleRock also welcomes the ever-popular Williams-Sonoma Culinary Stage, which will present a schedule of chef demonstrations and performances featuring an all-star lineup of chefs interacting with a variety of musicians, wine producers, celebrity actors and professional athletes. . The stage will once again be hosted by KCBS “Foodie Chap” Liam Mayclem, who will introduce figures such as José Andrés, Tyler Florence, Rodney Scott, Aaron May, Melissa King, Belle English, Danny DiGiampietro, Katherine Power, Andrew Zimmern and Aarón Sánchez, who will be joined by Golden State Warriors legend Stephen Curry, Bay Area baseball greats Rickey Henderson and Hunter Pence and actors Bradley Cooper and Cameron Diaz, along with musical headliners Tommy Lee, members of the Offspring, Nelly, T -Pain and more.
How to get to BottleRock Napa Valley?
Getting to BottleRock could become a bottleneck if heavy traffic is expected during the holiday weekend (especially on Friday, when many people will be on the highway early to get a head start) and public parking for the event is already sold out. But the festival encourages attendees to carpool, use rideshare services or bike (there is free bike parking near the venue at 301 1st St.). BottleRock also offers a number of shuttle bus services from San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose, Fairfield, Sonoma, Mill Valley, Palo Alto and Santa Rosa.
