When Calistoga approved a five-year agreement for a new annual rock festival at its fairgrounds last fall, organizers were quick to distinguish what they had in mind from Napa’s much larger BottleRock.

“We never want for this to turn into BottleRock,” organizer Gary Himelfarb told the City Council. The idea was a smaller, more intimate community event, beginning with two days and drawing as many as 10,000 people a day.

That festival, however, will not happen this fall.

Ripe Productions canceled the planned October 2026 launch in May, leaving the city without what had been expected to become a major annual event and an important piece of the effort to reactivate the 70-acre Calistoga Fairgrounds.

A Fairgrounds Looking for Its Next Chapter

The cancellation matters because the festival was never just about music.

Calistoga acquired the historic fairgrounds from Napa County for $2 million after years of uncertainty surrounding the property. The goal has been to restore it as a community gathering place while also finding events that can bring visitors, activity and revenue back to the site.

There are already signs of life.

The Calistoga Ag Fair returned in May with agricultural exhibits, local food and wine, live entertainment, a tractor show and truck pulls. The city described the event as a celebration of Napa Valley’s agricultural heritage and the people and businesses that continue that tradition.

Another major event, the Vintage Revival Rodeo, had been scheduled for October 9–11 with professional rodeo, live music, food and wine. But organizers announced earlier this month that it, too, would be postponed, with the inaugural event now planned for April 30 through May 2, 2027.

Racing Returns to the Fairgrounds

One part of the fairgrounds revival is already very visible.

Sprint car racing returned to the historic Calistoga Speedway this month with the 15th Louie Vermeil Classic, held September 5–6 on the fairgrounds’ half-mile dirt oval. The two-night event featured both traditional non-wing USAC/CRA sprint cars and winged 360 sprint cars.

The speedway dates back to the 1930s and has been part of Calistoga’s identity for generations. The city is now seeking proposals for its future operation, another sign that bringing regular activity back to the fairgrounds remains an active priority.

Bigger Than Any One Festival

The revival also extends beyond special events. The fairgrounds RV park is operating again and taking reservations, bringing regular activity back to another part of the property. The City is also seeking proposals for an operator for the Mt. St. Helena Golf Course. No reopening date has been announced, but the effort suggests another long-idle part of the fairgrounds may eventually return to use.

Taken together, the changes show just how much is still being worked out at the fairgrounds.

The original rock-festival proposal raised questions about how large future events should become, how much exclusivity outside promoters should receive, and how the property should balance tourism with community use.

Council Member Lisa Gift abstained from the original five-year agreement, saying she wanted to protect the city while broader planning for the fairgrounds was still underway.

But the central question remains the same even without the October rock festival: what kind of place should the Calistoga Fairgrounds become?

The city’s Fairgrounds Advisory Committee continues working through that question, with its next meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 24 at 6 p.m. at the fairgrounds. The meeting is open to the public, giving residents a chance to follow the discussion about the property’s future.

For residents who remember when the fairgrounds were a much bigger part of community life, the important story may be less about any single festival and more about whether Calistoga can turn the property back into a place people use throughout the year.