Lifestyle

For a town of just 12,000 or so, Healdsburg is rife with festivals. Wine festivals. Food festivals. Art festivals. Jazz festivals. Songwriting festivals. Tech festivals. The list grows each year. And let 2024 be known as the year that the “Design Healdsburg” festival came to...

Old-timers in Healdsburg remember that, come harvest time, it wasn’t the smell of fermentation from winegrapes that wafted over town, with its promise of a better vintage, but another smell: that of sun-drying prunes. “You could smell it everywhere—and you either loved it or you...

While all the nominated plants are found in the area, Healdsburg Garden Club did limit its list to native plants, though some are widely found outside Healdsburg’s city limits. The proposal included four flowers: the Douglas iris, the yellow mariposa lily, scarlet fritillary and blue-eyed grass, the once ubiquitous California native grape, and the familiar oak trees of the region.

Enter the rail trail. The concept developed in the 1980s as railroads across the country were decommissioned and a growing population sought new trails to travel. Thus the Rails to Trails Conservancy was formed out of timely necessity. Nearly 2,500 rail trails nationally now span 25,000 miles, as practical a reuse of a transportation corridor as one could conceive...

Congrats to the North Bay Pet Photo Contest '26 Winners! Thanks to our sponsors: Western Farm Center, Pawsarotti's and The Dapper Dog Salon. Furry Friends—Piper Best Senior Pet—Bam Bam Best Adventure/Working Dog—Comet AKA Kansa’s The Night Fire Best Puppy—Puppy in Powder Best Belly—Raisin Best Passenger—Vlad the Nomad Best Owner/Look-Alike—Jasper Cutest Kitten—Junior Best Costume—Pugsley Addams...

Now when most winemakers talk about “clones,” they’re talking about varietals selected for specific qualities, such as flavor, color or intensity. The Dijon clones of pinot noir or chardonnay are well known; but the canine clone of a winery dog is a new thing entirely.

It goes without saying that nearly all Healdsburg restaurants offer a respectable wine list, but despite this, many patrons still want to bring in their own bottles. For good reason, as the cost of dining out has started to pinch the pocketbooks. But consumers...

For some reason, Healdsburg has become known for its St. Patrick’s Day parade. If it’s not the best, then certainly it’s the earliest. Starting at 6am, give or take—that’s pretty early.  For the past 29 years or so, early risers (or possibly those who stay...

Though the price of admission may prove daunting to some, it’s the only way to attend the Welcome Celebration at Mayacamas Golf Course on Thursday, May 16, and Friday’s Platinum Lunch at MacMurray Estate and a Platinum Dinner at Chalk Hill Estate, each with celebrated chefs and winemakers or sommeliers - or both....

“Every time I go to Vineyard Plaza in Healdsburg I notice multiple parked vehicles with engines idling. I see people eating lunch, waiting for a pizza order, talking on the phone, listening to the radio while their car pollutes the air and makes noise,” wrote Steve Davy on Nextdoor. Some people have had enough...