Lifestyle

Sharp-eyed motorists have noticed a name change on a long white office building on Healdsburg Avenue, just a quick stroll away from the Quail and Condor bakery. The colors are still blue and white but the Bright Event Rentals sign is gone, and in its place the bold letters proclaim Russian Riverkeeper, now in its umpteenth home in Healdsburg, and still ready to Save the River.

An online gallery of images by photographer Rick Tang from the 2025 early-morning St. Patrick's Day parade, in Healdsburg.

Enter the rail trail. The concept developed in the 1980s as railroads across the country were decommissioned and a growing population sought new trails to travel. Thus the Rails to Trails Conservancy was formed out of timely necessity. Nearly 2,500 rail trails nationally now span 25,000 miles, as practical a reuse of a transportation corridor as one could conceive...

This year the Gay Wine Weekend becomes even more closely tied to Healdsburg, with the Lodge at Healdsburg on Grove Street serving as unofficial headquarters. As well as the winery tours and winemaker dinners, the signature events continue this year for the most part at Healdsburg-area locations.

“Sonoma County is an ideal location for TEDx,” said Marilyn Nagel, executive producer of TEDx Sonoma County. “TEDx thrives where there is a high density of ideas, diverse storytellers and an audience hungry for connection.”

Summer afternoons are filled with live music most days of the week in Wine Country But one popular local venue for weekly music in town is closing at the end of the month—and its future is anything but clear.

Old-timers in Healdsburg remember that, come harvest time, it wasn’t the smell of fermentation from winegrapes that wafted over town, with its promise of a better vintage, but another smell: that of sun-drying prunes. “You could smell it everywhere—and you either loved it or you...

For some reason, Healdsburg has become known for its St. Patrick’s Day parade. If it’s not the best, then certainly it’s the earliest. Starting at 6am, give or take—that’s pretty early.  For the past 29 years or so, early risers (or possibly those who stay...

“I think one of the things that people don’t think about is how long the produce lasts,” said Janet Ciel, Healdsburg Farmers Market manager. “So you buy from a farmer’s market that was picked that morning or the night before, but when you buy from a grocery store, that same head of lettuce, it’s three or four or five days in a freaking truck before you ever get it to your home!”

Thanksgiving Day gets off to an early start in Healdsburg, and Nov. 23, 2023, was no different. Almost  3,000 participants registered for the fundraising Turkey Trot benefit, “plus lots of kids in strollers and dogs,” according to Susanne Esquivel. “The youngest Trotter was two...