Quirky Sonoma County

  There are a number of what you might call odd events that happen throughout the year in Sonoma County. You might not see anything quite like this back home.

 

In Sebastopol
  There's a bit of old hippy to Sebastopol. It's a nuclear free zone so you'll feel safer. They also like to celebrate their apple crop -- the one they used to have before chardonnay and pinot noir moved in.

In Santa Rosa
  The Hoodoo Festival and Mystic Fair is about folk magic, whatever that is.
  The Harvest Fair has a world championship grape stomp.
  Charles Schulz of Peanuts fame lived here. That's why you'll find statues of various Peanuts comic strip characters at different places of business.
  Safari West, a preserve for African animals, puts on a Valentine's Day sex tour where you can watch the animals go at it. I guess that's how some people get in the mood. Kinky.
  Once a year for two weeks the Russian River Brewery puts out a special triple-IPA. People come from all over the world and stand in line for hours to sample the beer.  Yes, it's a very good beer, but it's not like they're giving away Beyonce/Taylor Swift/Bruno Mars/Florida Georgia Line tickets with it.

In Petaluma 
  Lagunitas Brewery hosts a beer circus where the guests dress up like circus performers.
  The Butter & Eggs Festival (already a weird idea) has a cow chip tossing contest.
  The Sonoma-Marin Fair has an ugly dog contest.

Mr Healdsburg and his adoring fans

In Healdsburg
  The women in attendance for the Mr. Healdsburg pageant might toss back a few glasses of wine and get a bit rowdy. "Take it off, daddy!"
  On St. Patty's Day things start early in the pre-dawn with funny green get-ups, a parade and lots of drinking at the local dive bar. I expect they are all asleep by noon so they can get up in time for the evening parties.

In Geyserville
  Has a holiday tree lighting and tractor parade.

In Guerneville
  They have a rodeo and it's not like that is unusual in the west. The thing is Guerneville has had a interesting history. It was a vacation spot for San Francisco with summer cottages along the river. They were taken over by hippies. Later the gay community moved in. I'm not saying there are any gay hippy cowboys in this event; just that I wouldn't be totally shocked.

Rockin' out in Cotati

In Cotati
  This is another town with a hippie history going back to the old days of Sonoma State College. The town hosts an accordion festival. Probably not the first thing you think of with old hippies.

In Sonoma
  Nothing really weird ever happens here. I don't think the locals would allow it. They don't seem to have much of a sense of humor as their sole focus seems to be how to get rid of all the tourists while still taking their money.
  OK, they do have an International Film Festival. For a town of 11,000 inhabitants that's pretty big for your britches.

It could be anywhere
  At certain times of the year when the wind is blowing just right you might be lucky enough to experience Sonoma Aroma. Hint: It comes from cows.