Summer Nights Railroad Square

This event is now called First Fridays. I wanted to Unilocal about this event and had hopes that others would be Unilocal as well. Tonight’s First Friday may well have been the last which makes me so very sad. I hate to see good wholesome community events become so expensive that they price themselves right out of the opportunity to invite more people into their neighborhood. When the event started it cost $ 15 dollars for wine tasting which included small wineries now wine tasting is limited to the wines served by the restaurants…$ 25.00 for 6 tastes of 2 oz. I hated being reminded that «its just a taste… NOT a pour»! Rude. The art and crafters are all but gone. The music was great tonight and I loved watching the 10 year old bass player! Wow! People were truly enjoying themselves, dancing and shopping.

Came here with family & friends & had a great night! Plenty of wine, food, craft/​art booths. Both live bands were great!
I’ll be BACK!

Summer nights offers an excellent source of entertainment for the whole family. Where else can Mom & Dad enjoy wine tasting, shopping and a variet of off-​the-​beaten-​path artisan vendors while the kids enjoy each others company, a variety of live music, and of course, Gelato! Plus the food truck serves more than the typical tacos. Looking forward to seeeing more vendors as it grows.

I wanted to love Summer Nights. After the first experience, I really didn’t want to go back. I especially didn’t want to go back after the barrage of borderline harassing Unilocal messages I received from the event organizer.
Why did I go? I heard a rumor that all fine art was removed from the event with space cited as the primary reason. I love seeing fine art in public settings and street fairs! This is one of the things that makes some of the A Street events (Winterblast, Vine Art) so exciting.
I arrived at Summer Nights and was not at all surprised to find no fine art but was shocked to find a couple empty easy-​up tents. In fact, there was a lot of empty space at the event. I arrived a good hour and a half into the event, so I assumed that things would be in full-​swing. There were plenty of crafters there with amazing work, but I can go to craft fairs all the time. One of the things that makes these Arts District events so special is that they make fine art accessible to the general public.
Since I walked to the event, I decided maybe I would do some wine tasting. Unfortunately, the line to buy tickets was 20+ deep and there was only one person staffing the table. I got in line and asked the person in front of me how long he had been waiting. He replied «Too long.» That was enough for me. I left.
Bottom line: Crowded, long line for $ 15 wine tasting, and a few empty easy-​up tents. Where’s the art we were promised?

Really fun event! Sip wine while enjoying good music, great vendors, yummy food (don’t miss the Rosemary Fries from Street-​Eatz!!) and best of all, a great place to people watch! Tonight is the last one of the season, can’t wait for next year.

When heading to Santa Rosa I always went east to fourth st. In the last few years Railroad Square as really revamped its image and now its competing. Summer Nights Railroad Square really helped bring people over. They put this event on the first Friday of every month. Lots of food, wine, music and local art. I was really impressed with the wineries. Each one was pretty small and family run. No big companies that hide behind different labels. Can be a lively event at times. Cheers! Santa Rosa.