Parking tips for the Art and Wine Festival in Mountain View (Sep 6-7)

hey everyone, the art and wine festival is coming up and i figured i'd share some parking advice since i've been going for years and it can get pretty crazy.

honestly the easiest way to deal with parking is to use a site called Prked. you can rent someone's private driveway or garage right next to the festival on castro street. it's way cheaper than the paid lots and you can totally skip the traffic nightmare trying to get into the official parking areas. you just park in a normal spot and take a short walk over. definitely worth looking into if you want to avoid a headache.

if you dont go that route, there are other options but you gotta plan ahead. there's some free parking on the streets and in the public lots around downtown mountain view. some of the big free lots are on bryant street. but be warned, these fill up super fast, like really early in the morning. a lot of the street parking has time limits, and they are pretty strict about ticketing, so watch the signs.

they also have some paid parking lots that are run by volunteers as a fundraiser. one is in lot 12 on bryant st, and there are a couple of garages on castro street that they open up. these are closer but you'll have to pay and the lines to get in and out can be super long, especially at the end of the day.

your best bet to avoid cars altogether is public transport. caltrain and the vta light rail drop you off right at the mountain view transit center, which is basically at the entrance to the festival. this is probably the most stress-free option if you're coming from farther away.

if you live close enough, riding your bike is a great move. they have a free bike parking area near castro and church streets. just remember to bring your own lock.

whatever you do, dont just show up in the middle of the day expecting to find a spot easily. the festival gets over 150,000 visitors, so it's always packed. plan to get there early, or use one of the alternative options.

hope this helps and have fun at the festival! it's always a good time.