RoundUp: Oktoberfest-ivals
So many festivals coming up in October, plus pumpkins, costumes, the subtraction of one of Sebastopol's three Starbucks and our wonderful new intern
And suddenly it’s fall
I’m always slightly in denial about the end of summer. Summer technically just ended last week with the autumn equinox on Sept. 22. But a sure sign that fall is here is the opening of Hale’s Apple Farm pumpkin market. It’s bursting with many-hued pumpkins and gorgeous gourds of all sorts. If you’ve never been there before, it’s just north of town, on Gravenstein Highway, before you get to Andy’s Produce.
Oktoberfest-ivals
Everyone looked at their calendars this year and decided that the best month to hold a festival in Sebastopol—or west county—was October.
Many Moons Festival
Saturday, Oct. 4, 11 am to 7 pm, at Ives Park, 7400 Willow St., Sebastopol. $10-$15.
The inaugural Many Moons Festival promises to be a vibrant celebration of Asian American, South and Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander traditions and contemporary culture. Experience a full day of delicious Asian and Pacific Islander food; handmade and imported crafts; wine, beer and sake; live music and cultural performances; an ethnic fashion show; workshops and demonstrations; nonprofit informational booths, and a dusk lights celebration. Get tickets.
Sonoma PaganFest
Saturday, Oct. 4, 11 am to 4 pm, at Miss Daisy’s Wonderland, 790 Hurlbut Ave., Sebastopol. Free with a can of food for the food drive (or $10).
Sonoma County’s First Annual PaganFest is a family-friendly Pagan Festival of love and light, featuring magick, music, drumming, ritual, workshops, vendors and farm-to-table food. This event is free with the donation of a non-expired canned or dry food. This event is hosted by Math and Melissa Reed and the Misty Moons coven. Profits go to Miss Daisy’s Wonderland.
North Bay Print & Poetry Festival
Saturday, Oct. 4, 10 am to 6 pm, at Graton Town Square in downtown Graton.
Come to the inaugural North Bay Print & Poetry Festival in the Graton Town Square. Poetry, music, and the art of printmaking come alive on a grand scale at this free, day-long community celebration. Watch massive linoleum blocks inked and printed beneath a classic street paver, hear the voices of acclaimed poets from Sonoma County and beyond, explore local vendors, and enjoy live music, food, and community. Find out more.
Farmers of the Future Harvest Festival
Sunday, Oct. 12, 12:30 pm-5 pm, at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center, 390 Morris St., Sebastopol. Range of ticket prices.
A fun-filled gathering designed to inspire and educate the next generation. Spend the day connecting with local farmers and neighbors, discovering fresh produce, enjoying delicious local food, and learning valuable agricultural skills and insights into today’s environment. The event will also feature live music from Brett McFarland and the Freedom Fighters and The Good Bad band. Agricultural education is vital to cultivating the next wave of young leaders who will keep our communities strong, resilient, and well-fed. This community gathering is in support of the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center’s youth programming. Get tickets.
Press Fest celebration at Luther Burbank Experiment Farm
Saturday, Oct. 18, 11 am to 3 pm, at the Luther Burbank Experiment Farm, 7777 Bodega Ave., Sebastopol. Free.
The Luther Burbank Experiment Farm in Sebastopol is celebrating fall harvest 2025 with free activities on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 11 am to 3 pm. The Press Fest 2025 will feature apple tasting, demos of apple pressing using an antique apple press, garden walks, docent tours, plant sales, live folk music, picnic grounds, and more. The plant nursery sale will include heirloom fruit trees and perennials, and advice in building your productive and beautiful 2026 garden. The antique cider press will be operating from 11 am onwards, and apple tasting will start at 11:30 am. (We will collect votes for the tastiest local apple variety.) Music from local folk band Jam Nation will begin at noon. Slow Food Russian River volunteers will also be operating reservation-based apple pressing on the only free community press in the United States. Come celebrate and help build our green future together. Press Fest at Luther Burbank Farm is a project by the Western Sonoma County Historical Society.
Sebastopol Bloom Festival
Friday, Oct. 24, to Sunday, Oct. 26, at varied venues in Sebastopol. $200-$300.
Sebastopol Bloom Fest 2025 promises to be a vibrant celebration of food, movement, music, wellness and community. Explore what the world can really be like when we deeply connect to place and each other. It’s a blend of west county farm-to-table culture, conscious music, and a health and wellness festival.
Stay: Explore unique glamping and home stays.
Eat: Some of the best food in Nor-Cal
Drink: Local wine, elixirs and other libations
Listen: At five unique musical stages
Connect: With daily yoga, dance & workshops
Shop: Local artisans, makers and brands
View: Art, film and performances
Make: Skill share, community service projects.
All net proceeds of the Sebastopol Bloom Festival will go to design and support downtown green spaces. Learn more and get tickets.
A little farther afield in west county…
Monte Rio Revival
Friday, Oct. 3, from 6 pm to 9 pm, at the Park & Ride in downtown Monte Rio.
On Friday, Oct. 3, there will be a free, family-friendly celebration of the legacy and future of Monte Rio’s unique historic downtown, once home to a bustling train station, an eight-story hotel, and dozens of local businesses. This free community gathering transforms the Park & Ride at the intersection of Moscow Road and Main Street into a vibrant celebration featuring live music, food vendors, and a local art market. After sunset, experience rare historic photos and videos from the Russian River Historical Society projected onto the side of Bartlett’s Market along with a special performance. The event also includes open houses at the Historical Society archive and Monte Rio Fire Station. Learn more.
Harvest Festival at Fort Ross State Historic Park
Saturday, Oct. 18, 10 am to 4 pm, at Fort Ross State Historic Park, 19005 Coast Hwy. 1, Jenner.
The Harvest Festival at Fort Ross features a screening of “Sequoias of the Sea,” a film by Natasha Benjamin and Ana Blanco, about the bull kelp coast off the California coast and the restoration efforts. Josie Iselin will be leading a virtual tour into the kelp forest and signing her book. If you have never tasted purple sea urchin, here you can. Kedry, Gradina and The Barn Wreckers will get you swinging as you sample delightful local food, watch the apple press or the master pumpkin carver at work—all with a fabulous view of the ocean. Make a day of it! See you at Fort Ross. Find out more.
Disguise the Limit: Sebastopol Edition
The popular costume shop, Disguise the Limit, closed its Santa Rosa location in 2023. Since then, owners Jenny and Heather DeYoung have held a Disguise the Limit Halloween pop-up at their home at 665 High St. in Sebastopol. It’s happening again this weekend, Oct. 4-5, 9 am to 5 pm. They still have tons of leftover stock—new costumes, wigs, quality stage make-up, vintage rental costumes and more, much of it 80% off.
Kid-friendly trash cans in Ives Park
Have you seen the new kid-friendly receptacles in Ives Park to encourage kids (and their grownups) to dispose of their garbage properly and recycle? At the urging of Councilmember Jill McLewis, the city is investing in new trash cans. City Manager Mary Gourley decided to have a little fun with the trash cans near the playground in Ives Park.
Starbucks in south Sebastopol to close this week
As a part of a $1 billion restructuring plan, Starbucks announced on Thursday, that it would close 1% of its coffeehouses in North America. This includes the Starbucks on South Gravenstein in the Southpoint Shopping Center, which put up a notice on Thursday saying it would close by the end of this week. Although there were still employees working inside, the doors were locked when I dropped by at 8:10 this morning.
CORRECTIONS
Sebastopol City Council Recap
In our city council recap this week, I poked fun at an ill-worded motion about the formula business ordinance that the council approved 3 to 2 at their meeting on Sept. 16. Alas, there were several misspellings in my quote of that motion. Here it is without those errors:
This item got translated into a rather garbled motion that proposed “to direct the city attorney to review the formula business ordinance, and after it goes through the planning commission, it will return to the city council, and then also directing staff to review the curated plan with the desired vision of the city’s downtown, with, example, the vibrancy plans as part of the economic development, which was not clearly stated in here.”
Like I said in the article: “What?”
Councilmember Maurer voted “No” and Councilmember Hinton abstained due to a lack of clarity about the second part of the motion. It passed with “yes” votes from Mayor Zollman, Vice Mayor McLewis and Councilmember Carter.
The Labyrinth article
In the labyrinth article this week, I was a year off on the date of the original labyrinth’s removal. Judith Iam reported its removal to Councilmember Maurer in June 2023, not 2024. We wrote an article about the removal of the labyrinth in Sept. 2023. Maurer began her efforts to get it on the council agenda in October 2023, which only attests further to her perseverance, as it took the council a year and a half to discuss it.
Sebastopol Police Logs, September 15-21
The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
12:58 p.m. Violation of probation (misdemeanor) at North Main Street. Suspect arrested.
5:56 p.m. Causing injury to an elder or dependent adult (misdemeanor) at Gravenstein Highway South. Cleared by circumstances beyond police control.
TUESDAY
10:02 p.m. Served a misdemeanor arrest warrant for an outside agency at Sebastopol Avenue. Suspect arrested.
11:37 p.m. Failure to appear in court as promised in writing (misdemeanor) and served with a misdemeanor arrest warrant for an outside agency at Main Street. Suspect arrested.
11:37 p.m. Failure to appear in court as promised in writing (misdemeanor) and served with a misdemeanor arrest warrant for an outside agency at North Main Street. Suspect arrested.
WEDNESDAY
11:00 p.m. Possession of unlawful paraphernalia at Sebastopol Avenue. Suspect arrested.
11:04 p.m. Disorderly conduct involving alcohol and violation of probation (misdemeanors) at North Main Street. Suspect arrested.
THURSDAY
7:47 a.m. Resisting an officer, violation of pre-trial release (felonies), battery on a peace officer, vandalism with property defacement, possession of unlawful paraphernalia and disobeying a court order (misdemeanors) at South Main Street. Suspect arrested.
FRIDAY
5:06 p.m. Failure to appear in court as promised in writing (misdemeanor) at Laguna Park Way. Suspect arrested.
SATURDAY
10:58 a.m. Possession of unlawful paraphernalia, possession of a narcotic controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and violation of probation (misdemeanors) at Pleasant Hill Avenue North. Suspect arrested.
9:59 p.m. Violation of Post-Release Community Supervision (felony) and possession of unlawful paraphernalia (misdemeanor) at Willow Street. Suspect arrested.
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 159 events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
The week of Sept. 22 to 27
Welcome our new intern, Elsie Lennox!
We’re thrilled to introduce our new intern, Elsie Lennox. We published Elsie’s first story, “That was then, this is now: A walk thru Sebastopol history with Donna Pittman” on Sept. 19. We asked Elsie to write a brief bio:
My name is Elsie Lennox, and I am a new intern here at the Sebastopol Times! I currently attend Credo High School in Rohnert Park as a senior. At Credo I am an active member of the school’s newspaper and student council. My duties on student council as the Director of Spirit and Clubs include overseeing the school’s clubs, planning the pep rallies and spirit days. I take a lot of joy in being able to participate fully in the communities I am a part of and so I am very grateful to have this opportunity to write for the Sebastopol Times. In my free time, I love exploring my creativity through writing, drawing and playing music. I also like being active when I can, participating in soccer or going on hikes.