What Actually Needs Planning at the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival on Girard Avenue

The La Jolla Art & Wine Festival fills Girard Avenue from Prospect Street to Torrey Pines Road on Saturday, October 10, and Sunday, October 11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free and dogs are welcome. With no ticket required to get in, it is easy to assume the weekend needs no preparation.

A few things around the walk do reward a decision before the weekend. Parking, the Wine & Beer Garden, the silent auction and dinner all run on a calendar. Sorting out those four first leaves the half-mile itself open for wandering.

The Half-Mile You Can Walk Into Cold

The booths are the part of the festival that asks nothing of you. The count of juried artists depends on which page you read. The festival's homepage says more than 170 artists from across the United States and Mexico. Its visitor guide says approximately 160, and an event listing says over 150. The mediums are the same in every version, and they include painting, sculpture, jewelry, photography, ceramics, fine glass and woodwork. Every piece exhibited must be for sale, and the festival collects no commission on those sales.

This year's featured artist is Doug Merskin, a Florida-based mixed-media artist. He paints flat with mineral pigments and metallic powders, then heat-bends the cured surface into wave forms that stand off the wall. Hoodline notes that he has a background in construction and design-build work, which fits the way his pieces are made.

Children have their own stop at the Geppetto's Toys Family Art Center, at the corner of Wall Street and Girard Avenue. Pet adoption stations are also part of the programming.

Parking is the first item that rewards a head start. The festival's visitor page says there is ample street parking along with paid lots. It also links to ACE Parking, which lets you reserve and pay in advance at lots a few steps from the festival.

The Corner at Girard and Silverado

The Wine & Beer Garden sits in the middle of the festival, at Girard and Silverado. It is open to guests 21 and older and pours from wineries, local craft breweries and a few spirits brands. The festival's published descriptions name no specific wineries.

The garden is also where the festival adds something new this year, an exclusive VIP area with an elevated tasting. The Muirlands Foundation's festival page recommends buying garden tickets ahead and says they usually sell out. That makes this the second planning item.

The garden is also the festival's stage. The entertainment page lists a schedule of sets in the garden on both days, including:

The opera performers have the shortest slot, only fifteen minutes on Saturday, and it falls between two longer sets.

The Auction, and Where the Money Lands

The festival's silent auction runs both days, in person and online. The Muirlands Foundation's page says to pre-register at LJAWF26.Givesmart.com or by texting LJAWF26 to 76278. That is the third item, and registering before the weekend means you can bid from your phone away from the crowd.

The auction matters because the festival exists to raise money. Since its founding, the nonprofit La Jolla Art & Wine Festival Foundation has raised more than $1.7 million for the five schools of the La Jolla Cluster. Those schools are Bird Rock Elementary, La Jolla Elementary, Torrey Pines Elementary, Muirlands Middle School and La Jolla High School. Hoodline reports the funding benefits more than 4,000 students annually.

The gate is free and artists keep their full sales, so the fundraising rests on other parts of the weekend. The silent auction is one, and the sponsors are another. U.S. Bank returns as a financial sponsor this year. The foundation's stated mission also includes promoting La Jolla and its merchants.

The Block Where Adelaide's Used to Be

Girard Avenue has a building that is part of the neighborhood's history and is about to have a new life. The address is 7766 Girard, and for 75 years it housed Adelaide's, the flower shop. According to the San Diego Business Journal, Adelaide Phillips started as an Encinitas flower stand in 1936, and she and her son built the Girard Avenue shop in 1945. Adelaide's moved to 919 Silverado Street in September 2020.

Roseacre is taking over the building. Designers Paul Basile and Jules Wilson lead the project, with Michelin-starred chef Erik Anderson as culinary director. Anderson earned two stars as executive chef of Coi in San Francisco. The menu centers on open-fire cooking with a focus on seafood, most of it cooked on a hearth, and plans include a rooftop bar and a street-facing Holsem Coffee counter. Roseacre's block runs between Silverado and Kline, so it begins at the same corner as the Wine & Beer Garden.

Basile told the San Diego Business Journal that the site was chosen for being away from the more tourist-centered part of La Jolla, and he described the restaurant this way:

"This is not another high-end concept."

As of the latest listings, Roseacre had not announced an opening date, and its OpenTable page still reads "Coming Soon." The restaurant's own site, roseacrelj.com, is the place to watch. Festival weekend is a good time to look at the building's frontage.

Two other Girard Avenue names belong on the list. Cala La Jolla Cafe, named for La Jolla Cove and owned by a La Jolla local, was scheduled to open on Girard in April. Lucien, at the top of Girard, opened in July 2025 with chef Elijah Arizmendi's 10- to 14-course tasting menu. It has only 30 seats and two seatings a night, so a table there is not something to look for on Saturday afternoon.

Dinner After the Tents Come Down

Dinner is the fourth item. Lucien's 30 seats leave little room for a festival crowd deciding at 5 p.m., which argues for booking early if that is the plan.

Guests who have had a full day on Girard might prefer somewhere quieter. Destiny Coast, at 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, is steps from the Scripps Coastal Meander Trail and looks over the La Jolla coastline. Its sunset dinner runs Wednesday through Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m., with the last seating at 8:15. That covers both festival evenings, and the Sunday festival closes at 6, so a 7 p.m. table is realistic. Valet is available on weekends only, from 9 to 3 and from 5 to 9.

Destiny Coast opened June 20, 2025, at the Ted and Jean Scripps Marine Conservation and Technology Facility. Its owner, John Crisafulli, described it to lajolla.ca as a gathering place for La Jollans, researchers, hikers and students.

Parking, a garden ticket, an auction registration and a dinner reservation are all worth settling before Saturday morning. If the Wine & Beer Garden leaves you with a bottle you would like to find again, or you would like to plan a weekend of hosting around La Jolla, James Mobbley is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.