Frequently Asked Questions.

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Cowchilla is a big ole private party featuring multiple live bands, freshly made food, fun beverages, kids, dogs, sunshine, laughter and dancing.  Howʼs that?

Someone has to.  

Easy Peasy.  Just send a note to rsvp@cowchillacinco.com and tell us how many in your party.  The sooner the better,  The plan is to shut RSVPing off a week or two ahead of the event, or when we hit 1000, which ever comes first.  Historically weʼve gotten way too many rsvps the week of the event which doesnʼt help us much in terms oif planning. 

Cowchilla 5 will take place in the same spot as Cowchillas 1-4.  Tucked away in a very charming little spot - in the middle of a private ranch on the southwestern side of Petaluma.  Weʼll email directions and event info to folks who have RSVPd a few days before the event. 

Weʼre not sure.  It would certainly be easier to change out a few things, do a little search & replace and call it a day.  Itʼs just part of the fun we guess. 

OK now weʼre talking.  Good question.  This years event will feature our most aggressive music program yet.  Not aggressive like...death metal or anything like that.  Just aggressive like - more bands.  A second stage.  Non stop tunes.  Weʼre going to have perennial returnees Dirty Spoon & Freeloader.  And weʼre super stoked to be welcoming in  Funk Nugget (Marin), Not Actually(Napa), The Band Downstairs (Piedmont), and indie-Alt-grunge-y-awesome Ulysseescfm (Santa Rosa).  More on the bands here. 

Hmmmm.  Thatʼs a good one.  Well some folks lean in to the western motiff.   Some folks go to great lengths to dress like they didnʼt go to great lengths.  Some folks do Bovine prints.  Pretty much anything goes.  But it is a bit dusty and thereʼs a bit of smoke from the BBQ.  So yeah. 

Sooo much.  More bands.  A 2nd stage.  An adorable hay-ride-type truck that will shuttle people from parking to Deer Camp (where the party is).  Patches!  Lighting in the parking area and actual bartenders in the bar! Ok that one isnʼt crazy sexy but still itʼs important.  And more. 

Back by popular demand, an assortment of grilled meats (ribs, sausages, etc) and veg as well as the delightful Tacos don Pepe. More details will follow.

OK thatʼs not a great question.  And you were doing so well.  Of course there will be T-shirts.  And they will be  super cool.  Possibly too cool.  Unwearably cool.  Big shout out to our boy Pat McCune at Graphic Sportswear, SF

The event will start at 12pm.  Live music will start at 1:30pm.  Pretty much a new band on the half hour all afternoon.  Last band will be playing at sunset ish.  Lotʼs of people stay on after sunset for bonfire and bourbon (shout out to that handsome bastard Colin Harter @ Lost Republic Distillery !! We love you CH!!)  We, admittedly, digress. Next question please.

So as you roll in to the ranch, and you start seeing a really cool old barn, youʼll see several acres of freshly mowed parking.  There will be some volunteers out there generously handing out common sense.  After you park, youʼll have either a 10 minute beautiful walk down an old dirt road to the Deer Camp ... or ... you can wait a couple minutes for the adorable Mickelsonʼs Haywagon Truck Situation (Big shout out to Trevor Mickelson and the whole Mickelson clan!!).  Youʼll hop on board, pop a beverage, kick back and enjoy the ride into camp.  Please note - we are not having parking at Deer Camp this year.  We are super appreciative that the Cayetana Collective allows us this bit of fun each year - and we want to stay in their good graces.  So please park nice :-)

Yes.  No discounts. 

Oh and their Christmas Tree farm in December too.  

Well.  One answer might be ʼfans of live music and perfectly grilled ribsʼ.  But weʼre not going with that one.  The real answer is - your local First Responders.  We are happy thrilled to once again be partnering with First Responders Resiliency.   Weʼre going to tell you more about this in other ways along the way.  But the stuff these guys and gals see & deal with - itʼs a lot.  Like, a lot a lot.  Divorce.  Substance abuse.  Chronic illness.  Suicide.   And FRR is all about helping them have the toolset to deal with that stuff.  Every penny of every donation goes directly to the organization.  And youʼll meet our pal Sue Farren, Founder of FRR at the event.  

Yes.  If your dog has Venmo then yes.  We kid, we kid.  We love doggies.    

It's a good point.  Yearly we'd say. 

You can donate directly to the First Responders Resiliency Project here.  At the event, we'll also have lots of instances of a QR code pointing your trusty phone there as well.  We also put out charming donation baskets decorated by our kiddos. 

So glad you asked.  

Yeah we're gonna have some fun(ny) interviews / spotlights on some of the people without whom Cowchilla would not happen.  We'll add more content here too as new ideas pop up and we add stuff.  So please hit us with your Dumb Questions ™️ - truth is we love them :-)

It's very, very easy.

Ask a young person.