From August into October, the softball field at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park was the Timber Fire's incident command post. The park was base camp for thousands of firefighters and support staff from CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service and partner agencies, according to California State Parks. This Saturday morning, a few hundred yards from that field, Big Sur Lodge hosts a champagne-and-painting brunch for the tenth Big Sur Food & Wine Festival.
The festival runs today, Thursday, November 5, through Saturday, November 7. The Big Sur Food & Wine Foundation says it restarted planning and ticket sales after "two significant fires and the vulnerability of the Highway closing again." Ticket sales opened again at noon on Sunday, September 20. That left seven weeks to sell a weekend that usually has much longer.
Seven weeks was enough for some events and not others. The smallest, most expensive events sold out. The largest and least expensive did not. For anyone who lives between the Highlands and Ragged Point, those open tickets are a good way into a weekend whose proceeds mostly go to local organizations.
The Board as of November 1
Here is how the festival's ticketing page looked at the start of the month. Prices include the fees the page lists.
| Event | When | Where | Price with fees | Status on Nov. 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magical Mystery Tour | Thu., Nov. 5, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Undisclosed | $318.98 | Sold out |
| Opening Night | Thu., Nov. 5, 6–9 p.m. | Alila Ventana Big Sur | $212.99 | On sale |
| Panel Tasting | Fri., Nov. 6, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. | The Loft at Alila Ventana | $69.91 | On sale |
| Hiking with Stemware | Fri., Nov. 6, 10:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. | Undisclosed | $318.98 | Sold out |
| The Wine Walkabout | Fri., Nov. 6, noon–3 p.m. | Post Ranch Inn, Sierra Mar Chef's Garden | $212.99 | Sold out |
| Annual Sommelier Dinner | Fri., Nov. 6, 6–10 p.m. | The Village Big Sur | $318.98 | Sold out |
| UMIBE: An Izakaya Experience | Fri., Nov. 6, 6:30–9:30 p.m. | Big Sur Roadhouse | $371.97 | Sold out |
| Bubbles & Brushes in the Redwoods | Sat., Nov. 7, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. | Big Sur Lodge | $160 | On sale |
| Live Auction for Big Sur | Sat., Nov. 7, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | See organizer | Registration and bidding | Open |
| The Grand Party | Sat., Nov. 7, 6:30–9:30 p.m. | Henry Miller Memorial Library | $160 | On sale |
Each of the five sold-out events costs between $212.99 and $371.97. Three of them take place somewhere the festival won't name ahead of time, or in one dining room. The four events still on sale run from $69.91 to $212.99, and all of them are at venues anyone on this stretch of Highway 1 can find. Availability changes by the hour on festival week, so the ticketing page has the current count.
There are named people behind the open events. Patrick Cappiello moderates Friday's Panel Tasting, and the listing describes his project, The 76 Redo. Opening Night at Alila Ventana lists 12 culinary partners and 20 champagne and wine producers, with Laurent-Perrier poured for the toast. The band Afrolicious plays the Grand Party at the Henry Miller Memorial Library.
Many residents will already know the hosts of the sold-out events. The Wine Walkabout at Post Ranch Inn is hosted by Reylon Agustin, Director of Culinary, and features Sierra Mar Executive Chef Il Hoon Kang. At Big Sur Roadhouse, Chef Mario and Chef Amado cook the UMIBE izakaya dinner.
Where a Ticket Goes After the Weekend
The foundation's beneficiaries page says the foundation raised $165,000 in 2025, through the festival along with the Big Sur Fashion Show and the Ferrari Event at The Barnyard, and that its total giving passed $1 million that year. The 2025 grants add up to exactly $165,000. Grouped, they show where the foundation's money ends up:
- Health and emergency response: $81,000. Big Sur Health Center received $35,000, Big Sur Fire $32,000 and MidCoast Fire Brigade $14,000.
- Schools and kids: $35,000. Big Sur Park School, Pacific Valley School and the Captain Cooper School Parent's Club received $8,000 each. Big Sur Stage Kids received $5,000, the Big Sur Fiddle Camp / Weston Call Scholarship Fund $4,000 and Big Sur Softball $2,000.
- Culture and history: $22,000. The Henry Miller Memorial Library received $12,000, the Emile Norman Foundation $5,000, the Big Sur Historical Society $3,000 and Whole Hearted Community Song Circles $2,000.
- Land, wildlife and community: $27,000. The Big Share received $8,000. The Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, for Big Sur land maintenance and cultural events, Keep Big Sur Wild and Ventana Wildlife Society each received $5,000, and the Big Sur Grange received $4,000.
Almost half of the 2025 total, $81,000 of $165,000, went to the clinic and two fire organizations that serve this coast. The Grand Party ticket ties in directly, too. The Henry Miller Memorial Library hosts Saturday's main event and was among the larger grant recipients in 2025. The 2025 list is the latest one the foundation has published.
Saturday Morning in a Reopened Park
Bubbles & Brushes is the one event on the schedule held inside a state park that has just reopened. Pfeiffer Big Sur reopened to visitors on Friday, October 16, after the Timber Fire burned about 517 acres within its boundaries. The State Parks release listed what came back first: day-use areas, the campground, Buzzards Roost Trail, the River Path, the Nature Trail, the Redwood Grove Boardwalk, the Nature Center, the Campfire Center and Big Sur Lodge.
Six trails stay closed until further notice: Pfeiffer Falls, Valley View, Oak Grove, Mt. Manuel, the Big Sur River Gorge and Pine Ridge. State Parks says anyone entering closed trails or burned areas will be cited. A walk before or after brunch can still take in the Redwood Grove Boardwalk and the River Path, both open since mid-October.
The brunch brings together three local names: Chef Marteona Johnson cooks, sommelier Alicia Walling pours, and local artist Sofanya White leads the painting. Tickets are $160 including fees. There is also a separate Lodge Guest VIP ticket at the same price.
The Road In, and Leaving the Car in Carmel
How many people the festival draws depends on the highway. On August 26, Caltrans announced that an eight-mile stretch of Highway 1 would close at 1 p.m. on August 27 for fire operations. The closure ran from about half a mile south of Deetjen's Big Sur Inn to near Andrew Molera State Park. By September 14, the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce reported Highway One fully open through Big Sur. Ticket sales restarted six days later.
The festival runs shuttles from a pickup point on Rio Road in Carmel for the evening events. These are Opening Night, the Sommelier Dinner, UMIBE and the Grand Party, at $54.02 each including fees. Thursday's Opening Night shuttle leaves Rio Road at 5:15 p.m. For readers in Carmel or the Highlands, that means a Ventana evening without driving the coast home in the dark. Shuttles for the other evenings have their own listings on the ticketing page.
Two other updates matter for festival week. Andrew Molera State Park's seasonal footbridge was scheduled for removal on October 29, and its Trail Camp closed for the winter on November 1. Reopening is projected for May 1, 2027. Farther south, Limekiln State Park's October 29 update lists day use and the Limekiln Trail to Pitkins Curve Trail as open, while Hare Creek and Limekiln Falls trails stay closed. Caltrans has a geotechnical investigation at the Limekiln Creek Bridge scheduled through November 20.
Three Weeks Later, at the Grange
The Big Sur Grange received $4,000 from the foundation in 2025. It hosts the next community gathering on the calendar, its Harvest Craft Fair over Thanksgiving weekend. Hours are 1 to 5 p.m. on Friday, November 27; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 28; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 29. The Grange's regular meeting follows on Tuesday, December 1, at 5:30 p.m. Nepenthe, Café Kevah and The Phoenix Shop list daily hours, with earlier closing times on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Big Sur Food & Wine shows how much of this coast runs on its own fundraising, from the clinic and the volunteer fire brigades to the schools and the library hosting Saturday night. Cheryl Heyermann has worked on the Monterey Peninsula for more than four decades and is glad to talk about life along Highway 1 any time. Cheryl Heyermann | Bramin Atler is always happy to share notes on the season ahead. Let's Connect.
