Staff Report

The 40^thannual Day in the Country returns to Los Olivos on Saturday, Oct. 19, with an entertaining mix of Victorian-era, Western-style and harvest-season activities and experiences.

Photo by Liz Dodder
Food, fun and families are the biggest elements of Day in the Country.

The day-long festival is the largest annual event in Los Olivos, and this year it will be “the family-friendliest part of the inaugural Taste of the Santa Ynez Valley,a multi-day and multi-town, immersive foodie event running Oct. 17-20,” organizers said.

Day in the Country begins with an early-morning, Platinum Performance-sponsored 5K Fun Run and a 5K Walk (7:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m.) that are dog-friendly and include a one-mile Kids’ Run.

Runners may sign in advance at www.losolivosca.comor register in downtown Los Olivos starting at 7 a.m. on race day.

Also starting at 7 a.m., and served until sold out, is a burrito breakfast produced by members of the Lucky Clover 4-H Club, at the Los Olivos Community Organization Hall (formerly known as the Santa Ynez Valley Grange Hall).

At 10 a.m., Los Olivos’ main thoroughfare of Grand Avenue transforms into a parade route displaying vintage tractors, antique autos, professional square dancers, musicians and animals.

Presiding over the 2019 Day in the Country Parade is this year’s Grand Marshal, Eli Parker, who rides in celebration of the family-owned Fess Parker Winery & Vineyard’s 30th year in Santa Barbara County.

The parade is followed by a street fair that opens at 11 a.m. with more than 100 local and regional vendors, crafters and food purveyors, where food trucks and pop-ups will mingle with shopping opportunities for original, local artisan goods. Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. will host a beer garden, and live music will entertain throughout town.

While overall admission to Day in the Country is free, activities in the event’s Kiddie Korral – where littles and grown-ups will find kiddie steer roping, giant yard games, face painting and more family fun – will carry a minimal fee.

Los Olivos businesses will also be showcasing their entries in the 2019 Los Olivos Scarecrow Fest, inviting Day in the Country revelers to cast votes for their favorite scarecrows in the friendly competition.

Also on tap is the 2019 Day in the Country Wine Roundup, which provides tasters with a ticketed Roundup Pass good for both Saturday and Sunday ($25 per person; 21 and over), allowing them more than 18 tastes from at least nine local wineries including Bien Nacido & Solomon Hills Estates, Epiphany Cellars, Brewer-Clifton, Larner Vineyard & Winery, E11even Wines by Andrew Murray, Solminer Wine Company and others, to be announced.

On Saturday, a tented VIP Lounge will also feature Los Olivos-area labels that don’t have in-town tasting rooms, with gourmet nibbles from the First & Oak Kitchen food truck and a “Country Lounge” with live music, in front of Community Craft.

Day in the Country is produced by the Los Olivos Chamber of Commerce, a volunteer organization that funds town services such as maintenance for the village’s central flagpole, public restroom facilities and trash removal.

For more information, go to www.losolivosca.com.