In 1917, with Prohibition approaching, Philip and John Bargetto moved their family wine business from San Francisco to a property in Soquel. They bought it in 1920. While Prohibition lasted, they farmed the family ranch in the hills above the current winery site. Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933, and the brothers started a wholesale wine business that same day. That story is on Bargetto's own history page.
This year Bargetto's holiday art fair, Art in the Cellars, opens on Saturday, December 5. That is 93 years to the day.
Soquel's holiday calendar works this way all season. The events move into places that already have a year-round job: a high school track, a church on Soquel Drive, a winery's cellars and an elementary school on Porter Street. Most of the money raised goes back to something local.
Four dates, four buildings
| Date | Event | Where | Cost | Proceeds or host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov. 26 | Run for Pie | Soquel High School, 401 Soquel San Jose Rd. | $45 plus processing fees | Second Harvest Food Bank and the Soquel High track team |
| Saturday, Nov. 28 | Holiday Book Fair | Congregational Church of Soquel, 4951 Soquel Dr. | Free | Organized by Inkpot & Quill, LLC |
| Saturday–Sunday, Dec. 5–6 | Art in the Cellars | Bargetto Winery, 3535 N. Main St. | Free entry, $25 festival glass | Bargetto Winery |
| Friday, Dec. 11 | Winter Boutique | Soquel Elementary School, 2700 Porter St. | Free | Soquel Elementary Home & School Club, for student enrichment programs |
Thanksgiving morning starts at the high school track
The season opens at Soquel High School on Thanksgiving morning, November 26, with Run for Pie. Fleet Feet Aptos organizes it. The store is at 7960 Soquel Drive, and Amber Melville is the race director. Brooks Running and Beckmann's sponsor the race.
The morning has three start times, according to the registration page:
- 8:35 a.m., the kids' half-mile Turkey Chase. All of its proceeds go to Second Harvest Food Bank.
- 9:05 a.m., the 5K, open to runners and walkers.
- 10:15 a.m., the Pie Mile Relay. Teams have four people, and each member registers separately with the team name entered next to their last name.
Every finisher gets a slice of pumpkin pie. Proceeds from the whole event go to Second Harvest Food Bank and the Soquel High School track team, and the organizers hope to donate more than 12,000 meals this year.
The race has a cap, so last-minute signups may not work. The registration page says the organizers limit entries because demand is high every year. Fleet Feet's page says the race "sells out early every year." The Santa Cruz Sentinel counted 549 runners at the 2025 race. The paper reported 620 runners in its 2023 roundup. Entry is listed at $45 before processing fees. A race shirt costs $5 extra at registration.
The start and finish are in the same spot. Fleet Feet's course notes tell runners to follow the blue arrows and to turn back toward the start when they reach the black arrows.
Two days later, a church hall turns into a book fair
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 28, the season moves to the Congregational Church of Soquel at 4951 Soquel Drive for a free Holiday Book Fair from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Christina Davis of Inkpot & Quill, LLC, is organizing it. Her listing calls it "Santa Cruz County's first cozy book fair" and describes it as "like the Scholastic Book Fair meets a Christmas market."
The program includes local and regional authors, talks, booksellers and bookish crafters, plus hot cocoa. The free craft needs a hardcover book, so bring a favorite one from home or buy one at the fair. The listing also encourages ugly sweaters.
The same stretch of Soquel Drive has had its own changes in the past year. In November 2025, Lookout Santa Cruz reported that the owners of Home restaurant had opened Home Away at 4901 Soquel Drive. That was the former VinoCruz space, down the street from the church. Lookout described Home Away as a casual daytime bar and market with seasonal small plates, soups, salads, and local beer, wine and cider. It said the spot planned a Wednesday-through-Sunday schedule. Lookout had reported that VinoCruz closed in spring 2025 after seven years. Home Away's hours may have changed since that first report, so check before planning a book fair lunch there. Home, the original restaurant, serves dinner at 3101 N. Main St.
The cellar weekend opens on the anniversary
The next Saturday brings the biggest weekend of the season, and it opens on the anniversary of the day the Bargettos started their wholesale wine business. Art in the Cellars runs Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, at Bargetto Winery, 3535 N. Main Street. Bargetto says more than 50 artists and vendors will sell handmade jewelry, leather goods, paintings, mosaics and photography inside the historic wine cellars, and the event page also lists culinary vendors and a food truck. Admission is free. Wine tasting requires a $25 Festival Glass, or $20 for wine club members.
This year the fair is back to two days. In 2025, Lookout listed the 33rd Art in the Cellars on Saturday, December 6, only. That year it had more than 50 artists and culinary vendors and the same $25 glass. The 31st edition in 2023 was a full weekend, with Lookout's wine column listing it for Saturday and Sunday. It had over 30 local artists and food vendors, and tasting cost $20. The vendor count has grown, and the event has returned to a two-day weekend.
The cellars belong to a family business that is still running. According to Bargetto, siblings Martin, Loretta and John Bargetto lead the winery, and the company calls it the oldest continuously operating winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 1991 the family planted Regan Estate Vineyards in Corralitos, which now grows the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Pinot Grigio for its estate wines. In April 2025, Lookout reported that the winery no longer exported wine and that its 2024 sales had grown as it expanded into new states.
On Saturday, the day can continue beyond the cellars. Emozioni Pasticceria & Rosticceria at 2841 Porter Street, Suite B, is listed as open Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Visit Santa Cruz County. That evening, Santa Cruz Scene lists live music from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Ugly Mug, the coffeehouse at 4640 Soquel Drive that Good Times profiled in 2025.
The last stop is a schoolyard on Porter Street
The season ends where it started, at a school, and the money goes back to students. On Friday, December 11, the Soquel Elementary Home & School Club holds its free Winter Boutique from noon to 6 p.m. at Soquel Elementary School, 2700 Porter Street. The Good Times calendar listing describes more than 30 local vendors selling ceramics, jewelry, paintings, handmade goods and fresh baked goods. A local taco truck and hot drinks will be there too. All proceeds go to the school's student enrichment programs, and the event runs rain or shine.
December 11 is a Friday, which falls within Emozioni's posted Thursday-to-Saturday hours, and the pasticceria is on the same street at 2841 Porter Street.
The Porter Street boutique and Run for Pie both put a school to holiday use, and both send their proceeds to local causes. The book fair borrows a church hall for a day. The anchor weekend fills the cellars of a family that started selling wine wholesale in Soquel 93 years earlier, on December 5.
If you're planning the month around these dates and want to talk about anything Soquel, from the best weekend to walk the village to what's changed on Soquel Drive this year, reach out to Danny Ward. I'm always glad to compare notes on the place I grew up. Let's Connect.
