Between now and December 19, the Brannan Center on Third Street has 10 ticketed performances and one free holiday concert on its calendar. Weekly classes run alongside them through the end of the year. On Washington Street, a sparkling-wine bar opened this month in the former Mangia Mi space. The town's two big outdoor nights, the Halloween Parade and the Lighted Tractor Parade, still happen on Lincoln Avenue. Most of what fills the weeks between them now happens off Lincoln.
This is the Brannan Center's second fall. The first one was mostly an opening. This one is a full season.
A church on Third Street with two halls
The Press Democrat reported that the Brannan Center was a $12 million project. It turned the town's 1872 Presbyterian church into a venue with two performance halls, outdoor gathering space and classrooms. The Calistoga Tribune reported that the official opening weekend ran October 3 to 5, 2025.
The Brannan Center describes itself as a nonprofit performing-arts and community-events hub at 1407 Third St. It has 11,000 square feet of flexible space and is governed by a volunteer board. Kyle Clausen is the executive director.
Size is part of what makes the building different. It can host a string ensemble on a Friday, a comedy night the next week and a senior chair-yoga class on a Saturday morning. This fall it is booking all three kinds of event.
The ticketed calendar, October through December
These are the performances the Brannan Center events page lists for the rest of 2026.
| Date | Performance |
|---|---|
| Wednesday, October 21 | Liz Longley |
| Friday, October 23 | Eleanor Alberga & The Green Room Ensemble |
| Sunday, November 1 | Larry Vuckovich Sextet |
| November 6 and 7 | Vivaldi and Piazzolla's Four Seasons |
| Sunday, November 8 | Solas |
| Friday, November 13 | Crush Comedy Night |
| Wednesday, November 18 | California Guitar Trio |
| Saturday, November 28 | Homegrown: Live in Calistoga |
| Monday, December 7 | The Swingles |
| Thursday, December 17 | Merry Christmas, Baby: The Charles Brown Project featuring Nicolas Bearde |
| Saturday, December 19 | Our 2nd Annual Tuba Christmas, free |
November is the busiest month, with six shows across seven dates. The Four Seasons program alone runs two nights. Several shows fall midweek, on a Wednesday, a Monday and a Thursday, so the calendar is not built only around weekends.
"2nd Annual" is the label to watch. Tuba Christmas has now happened once before, so it is starting to look like a regular December event. It is also free, which means anyone can drop in.
The weekday side of the building
The ticketed shows get the attention. The classes are the part of the building most likely to bring people back every week. The Brannan Center's fall calendar lists these programs:
- Tai Chi with Rianda House and Chair Yoga with Rianda House, on the first and third Saturdays, scheduled from October 3 through December 31
- Kids Rock U, Tuesdays from October 6 to November 10
- Line Dancing, Tuesdays from October 13 to November 10, starting tomorrow
- Community Hours, Wednesdays from October 7 to October 28
Line Dancing and Kids Rock U both finish on November 10. Community Hours ends October 28. If you want any of these, the window is shorter than the rest of the season. The Rianda House sessions run the longest, through the end of the year.
Washington Street gets a bar built for coming back
Bubbles Calistoga opened at 1120 Washington St., in the former Mangia Mi space, in early October. A Wine Business release dated October 1 announced the opening. The Bubbles website now says it has "officially" opened its doors. Hours are noon to 7 p.m. Monday and Thursday through Sunday. It is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Owner Gregg Lamer has a clear idea of who the bar is for. "Bubbles should be consumed on a daily basis," he told Calistoga Currents. "They should be accessible to everyone." Calistoga Currents reported these details of how it works:
- About 20 sparkling wines by the glass, priced from roughly $13 to $75 on the opening menu
- More than 60 bottles for retail sale, priced at cost plus 20%
- Featured producers that change each quarter, poured as flights of three 2-ounce tastes; the opening three are Paula Kornell, Ferrari and Laurent-Perrier
- A quarterly Flight Club subscription that sends three bottles and gives 10% off all purchases
- A pantry-style tapas menu with no chef, built on tinned fish, caviar, olives, cheese, cured meat and chocolate, plus occasional pop-ups with guest cooks
Those choices point toward repeat visits. Bottles sold near cost, a list that changes every quarter and a club with three bottles each quarter all give people a reason to come back in January to see what has changed. Bubbles opened in the same weeks the Brannan Center's busiest stretch began. Both sit off Lincoln, and both are set up for the months after harvest.
Lincoln Avenue keeps the big nights
The outdoor events are still Lincoln Avenue's. The City of Calistoga lists these dates for the rest of the season:
- Trunk or Treat, Saturday, October 24, 2 to 4 p.m., at the Calistoga Fairgrounds. It is free, with decorated cars, candy and free hot dogs.
- Halloween Parade, Saturday, October 31, 6 to 7 p.m. It is free. It starts at Pioneer Park, runs down Lincoln Avenue and ends at Lincoln Avenue and Fair Way.
- Lighted Tractor Parade, Saturday, December 5, 7 to 8 p.m. The city describes it as rain-or-shine, with more than 50 tractors and trucks and an expected 12,000 to 14,000 people. Visit Calistoga says entries are limited to the first 50 complete submissions.
The expected crowd is several times the town's 2020 census population of 5,228. The Halloween Parade and the tractor parade fill Lincoln Avenue for an hour each. The Brannan Center and Washington Street cover the weeks in between.
Just outside town, Sterling Vineyards at 1111 Dunaweal Lane is hosting a Día de los Muertos celebration on Sunday, November 1. It includes wine tastings, Mexican-inspired small bites, mariachi, dancers and an ofrenda. Tickets are $85. That is the same day as the Larry Vuckovich Sextet at the Brannan Center.
The Calistoga Depot, the restored 1868 station at 1458 Lincoln Ave., is the one Lincoln Avenue venue that runs as a weekly stop. Its homepage says "Now Open." Hours are Monday and Thursday through Sunday, and the Wine Collective is open for tastings Friday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Calistoga Currents reported this summer that the property houses Earth & Sky Chocolates and the Sarmentine bakery. Its days line up closely with Bubbles: both are closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Saturday mornings at Sharpsteen Plaza
The farmers market has been in place longer than any of this. The City of Calistoga lists the Calistoga Farmers' Market at Sharpsteen Plaza, 1311 Washington St., every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The next dates are October 17, October 24, October 31, November 7 and November 14. The city's date picker shows weekly Saturdays into late December, and it gives no closing date for the season.
Like Bubbles, the market is on Washington Street, so a Saturday morning at Sharpsteen Plaza and an afternoon glass at 1120 Washington are on the same street. On the first and third Saturdays, the Rianda House sessions at the Brannan Center add a third stop.
One more change affects weekday routines. Calistoga Fit has moved to a temporary training center in the former golf Pro Shop at 2025 Grant St. Its premium membership now includes the mineral pools at Dr. Wilkinson's Backyard Resort & Mineral Springs, 1507 Lincoln Ave. The gym told Calistoga Currents it plans a permanent downtown location in early 2027.
Some of the season is still unannounced. The city has not posted a 2026 date for Merry & Bright Night, and its listing still shows last year's event. If it falls the same weekend as the tractor parade, the first week of December will be the busiest week on Calistoga's calendar.
If you own a hospitality or commercial property in Calistoga and want to talk through how a year-round local calendar figures into its plans, Carmen Gray Team is glad to help. Request a private consultation.
