28 cideries from all over California poured at the fest

ATASCADERO — The Central Coast Cider Festival (CCCF) made its return for the sixth year, this time with a brand new location. After five years at the Pavilion on the Lake, the cider-filled event moved to Sunken Gardens, and 467 cider lovers showed up to taste some of California’s best.

“Honestly, I think this is where we always wanted to go anyway, and it feels great being here in Sunken Gardens,” said co-owner of The Poison Apple and Secretary of the Central Coast Cider Association (CCCA) Cody Broadstone. “We’reright downtown. It’s close to The Poisoned Apple, so it’s close to home for us.” 

The festival took place from 4 to 8 p.m., with VIP ticketholders being able to sip on select ciders brought just for them from 4 to 5 p.m. before the rest of the crowd joined in the fun in front of the historic City Hall.

“It’s especially great for cider to be in a big venue like this where all the [other] big festivals are,” stated governing board member of CCCA and co-owner at Two Broads Ciderworks Maggie Przybylski.

Being in Sunken Gardens has been the end goal since the CCCF started, and this year, the CCCA teamed up with Andres Nuno and his business, En Fuego Events, to make their dream a reality. 

“It’s going to be a great turnout and then something to build on for the next years. We’d love to get to like 1,000 people and use all of Sunken Gardens,” said Nuno. “When we take on these new events that we have never done before, we have to say, is this something we believe in? That we’re going to do for many, many years? At this point, that’s how we operate, and so this event was intriguing because I don’t know of any other Cider Festivals. This can be something that can be really cool for Atascadero and for ciders in general. We have people who come from very far away because they don’t have cider festivals where they are. For us, I think it’s going to be something that we can really market to people who enjoy cider.”

There were 28 cideries from all over California for the 21-plus crowd to sip from, with multiple varieties of cider from each. Fruity blends, ciders made with hops, ciders made more like wine, and crisp, dry classics were to be had. On top of all the cider, there were also retail vendors to shop and food trucks to eat at while enjoying the evening.

“It was one of his (Nuno’s) ideas to add vendors because he’s got a whole list of vendors and local folk, so it’s kind of a nice mixture because everybody likes to drink and shop, right?” added Przybylski.

This year, the CCCF also featured an educational program that started around 5:30 p.m., and anyone who was interested in learning more about making and creating the ciders they were tasting could attend. They also had a certified cider professional there.

“We have been bringing Cider Festival to our city of Atascadero for the past six years,” Director of Community Services and Promotions for the City Terrie Banish said. “Both the tourism board and the City of Atascadero are sponsors of it to make sure that we keep our Cider Festival here.”

This year’s featured cideries were Anna’s Cider, Apiary, Benny Boy, Black Hand Cellars, Bristols, Casa De Oro, Durham Cider & Wine, Field Recordings, Friendly Noise Wine and Cider, Gopher Glen Cider, High Seas Mead, Kelsey See Canyon, Lassen Cider, Maddox Meadery, Mount Diablo, Night Owl Cider, Ponderosa, Raging Cider & Mead Co., Santa Cruz Cider Co., Shindig, Single Fin, SLO Cider, Sycamore Ranch Vineyard & Ciderworks, Tanuki Cider, Thacher, Ten Five One Cider, Tin City Cider, and Two Broads Ciderworks.

“It’s pretty cool that we only have so many cideries in California and I think, right here, locally, we have like 15 of them. Most of the cider people are going to try today is local stuff,” said Broadstone at the event. “But now we have such a large reach that we’re able to invite all these people from all across California to come hang out and celebrate cider.”

To keep an eye out for next year’s CCCF date and location or to learn more about the festival, go to centralcoastciderfestival.com.

Feature Image: Atascadero Citizen of the Year Jerry Tanimoto (left) visits with Scott of Rincon Brewery at the Anna’s Cider tent at the sixth annual Central Coast Cider Festival. Photo by Rick Evans