Overview Festival Napa Valley is a ten-day summer season of concerts at wineries and resorts across Napa Valley, and its centerpiece, the Arts for All Gala at Nickel and Nickel in Oakville, raised a record $6.5 million in one night in 2026. The gala takes the opening Sunday with dinner, a live auction and a headline concert; Taste of Napa, a walk-around tasting of more than 100 wineries, breweries and restaurants at The Meritage Resort and Spa, runs the day before. The Napa Valley Festival Association, a nonprofit, founded the festival in 2006 as Napa Valley Festival del Sole and renamed it in 2016; more than 200 artists, wineries, resorts, restaurants, chefs and vintners take part each year. On site Nickel and Nickel is part of Far Niente Wine Estates, and dinner is paired with the house wines. In 2026 chef Dustin Valette and Componere Fine Catering cooked, the pours came from Nickel and Nickel, Bella Union and Dolce, and auctioneer Lydia Fenet ran the block. The 2026 lots ran big: private access to Egypt's ancient sites with archaeologist Kathleen Martinez went for about $1.2 million, a Paris and Bordeaux trip built around The Judgment of Paris at the Palace of Versailles raised $940,000, and a Mustique villa stay drew the night's highest individual bid, $190,000. Absent bidders bid by proxy, and the night ends with a Fund A Need paddle raise and the concert. Audience The Festival's own account of the 2026 room is philanthropists, artists, vintners and civic leaders. The bidding shows the depth: the Fund A Need paddle raise alone brought in more than $1 million, with individual leadership gifts of $100,000. Buy-a-spot experiences sold alongside the auction included an evening with Andrea Bocelli at Carolands and a Chairmen's BBQ at Alpha Omega. Talent and Influencers Each gala is built around one headliner. Jon Batiste played in 2025. Wynton Marsalis and the Wynton Marsalis Septet played in 2026, when violinist Nick Kendall of Time for Three joined the Young People's Chorus of New York City for an unbilled performance of You Will Be Found. For its 20th season the Festival commissioned The Judgment of Paris, a one-act opera by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer about the 1976 blind tasting, with Kent Nagano conducting. Track record The gala set its record twice running: $5 million in 2025, then $6.5 million in 2026. Across twenty years it had raised more than $40 million. The Festival counts more than 1,000 scholarships awarded, over 2,000 performances and education programs, and more than 150,000 children, veterans and seniors served through Arts for All, which reaches every Napa County public school and Boys and Girls Club. Brand presence Brands appear inside the auction as well as on the season. In 2026 J.P. Morgan Wealth Management presented a Pebble Beach golf lot with U.S. Open access, and Pomellato and HALL Wines put up a Palm Springs Film Festival lot that sold twice at $95,000 each. Bouchaine Vineyards was the 2026 presenting sponsor and Rivian the official luxury vehicle, and more than 100 wineries, resorts and hotels support the season. The Festival builds each sponsorship to the partner's goals.