An interesting thing happened when Pebble Beach Food & Wine’s new organizers convened a media lunch to preview what’s to come.
After acquiring full ownership of one of the country’s biggest epicurean festivals — returning now after years of Covid closure — host Pebble Beach Company brought aboard immersive event experts, a21, to provide the theater to pair with chefs and vintners.
The message from PBC and a21, in short: You thought the old PBFW was something. Wait’ll you get a load of this edition, starring a reimagined Grand Pavilion tasting in tents the size of several football fields, appointed with new cabanas, a plaza and living botanical elements.
And the big tastings are but a morsel of the larger menu of possibilities, including the James Beard chef showcase on opening night, ample tastings, ambitious brunches, smart seminars and vibrant after parties.
On top of that, PBFW is only the start of things happening around Monterey Peninsula in April. Here appear Local Getaways’ favorites.
We’ve done the deep research for you on the best things to do on the Monterey Peninsula including museums, cultural events, food tours, golfing, hikes and more. Speaking of food, we also have an extensive list of our best restaurants on the Monterey Peninsula, and if you’re planning a weekend, the the best places to stay.
April is warm on the Monterey Peninsula, with average temperatures in the high 60s.
Featured Photo: Easter Eggstravaganza courtesy of Monterey County Fair
Pebble Beach Food & Wine
April 4–7
The setting is sublime, the lineup loaded. The four-day slate taps tastings, panels, lunches, demos and Grand Pavilion gatherings across dozens of events, starring 150 wineries and 125 chefs. Charles Phan, Jeremiah Tower, Mario Castrellón, Maneet Chauhan, Graham Elliot, Elizabeth Falkner, Rogelio Garcia, Roy Yamaguchi, Geoffrey Zakarian and Andrew Zimmern all collaborate on events like opening night at Spanish Bay and “To the South, With Love: A Southern Jazz Brunch.”
More info: pebblebeachfoodandwine.com
Night Market 831 at Sand City Art Park
April 5
The formula has been well proven as a great way to leap into the month’s first weekend: inventive and independent food trucks, zesty live music, curated craft beer, interactive art and a groundswell of local creatives all take over the colorful heart of Sand City. The tiny city’s Art Park hosts, with blocks of muraled buildings surrounding it.
More info: nightmarket831.com
Get Hooked! Benefit Dinner Party at Folktale Winery
April 10
Folktale Exec Chef Justin Robarge partners with local fisherfolk to summon dishes like octopus poke cones, black cod tacos and “borracho gazpacho” with local crab. Paired with Folktale wines, the chateau backdrop and live music al fresco, it’s a great party for a great cause: Proceeds support the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, which routes the funds to pay local fishers to provide fresh and healthy protein for food-insecure populations.
More info: exploretock.com/folktalewinery/event/470016
Whalefest Monterey
April 13–14
Two days at Old Fisherman’s Wharf and adjoining Custom House Plaza State Historic Park (and its Stanton Center) include pods of content — with ample illumination from Monterey Bay Research Institute, Moss Landing Marine Lab, the Marine Mammal Center and more of the experts that make right here the marine science capital of Water, er, Earth. On top of the symposiums on everything from the crucial role of kelp to the environmental benefits of whale poop, there will be live music, boat displays, abalone races, a calamari-cooking tutorial and marine-related interactive exhibits. “Gracie” the 30-foot gray whale skeleton makes a cameo too.
More info: whalefest.org
Sea Otter Classic
April 18–21
The long weekend’s schedule comes on like a pedal-powered fever dream. Road races, enduro races, “gravity” races, grand prix races, dual slalom races, single speed races and Fuego XL races ramp up the competition. The expansive expo packs in gear, tools, tech and merch. Camping, live music and curated food and drink up the atmosphere. Those in the know don’t call this The Woodstock of Bicycles for nothing.
More info: seaotterclassic.com
Flavors of Marina
April 21
For years this was the best flavor bang-for-the-buck in an area popping with tasting events. A major reason why: The robust range of quality, family-run, international restaurants and purveyors who collaborate to provide a strolling station-to-station exploration of heartfelt spots, to pair with local beer and wine. $50 is a bargain.
More info: eventbrite.com
Chicago Piano Quartet at Sunset
April 27
Chamber Music Monterey Bay’s season wraps with CPQ’s first appearance in Carmel in this configuration. Violinist Desirée Ruhstrat, cellist David Cunliffe, pianist Marta Aznavoorian and violist Aurélien Fort Pederzoli explore beautiful — and infrequently heard — gems by Spanish composer Joaquín Turina and Frenchman Jean Cras, with one of Brahms’s most powerful masterpieces, the C Minor Piano Quartet, to close it down. An illuminating pre-concert talk by Bay Area musicologist Ian Scarfe starts things off.
More info: chambermusicmontereybay.org
Big Sur International Marathon
April 28
The original marathon was held to retain the spirit of Pheidippides, who ran from Athens to Sparta to gather armies to fight off invaders, and was nice and all. Forthcoming races like, say, the Boston Marathon or the Paris, the Honolulu or the Amsterdam, are also inspired. But they’ve got nothing on the BSIM, which retains — and channels — the spirit of the nation’s first nationally-designated Scenic Highway (Highway 1), helping the race earn the runner vote for top marathon in California.
More info: bigsurmarathon.org
Event Venues
Looking to see what’s happening right now on the Monterey Peninsula? Our comprehensive list of venues across the city below will help you find what you need to know what’s going on.
Looking for more things to do in the area?
Visit our What to Do in Northern California page!
