photo credit: Michelle Marques/KRCB
Parade participants and revelers during the annual Winterblast parade in Santa Rosa's
SOFA - South of A Street - Arts District. 

Winterblast, Santa Rosa's much loved arts festival, won't be returning this November. But organizers hope to bring the event back in 2027.

Winterblast is an art festival and street fair in Santa Rosa's SOFA District - that's South of A Street, not far from the city's downtown.

Spring Maxfield, with the Santa Rosa Urban Arts Partnership, has helped run Winterblast in the SOFA neighborhood since 2022.

"The artists kind of were poking fun of [the SOFA name] and decided one night to bring their sofas wildly decorated out of their art studios and into the streets," Maxfield said of Winterblast's origin.

First started in 2004, it's become popular for the annual sofa parade and open artist galleries and workshops.

But Maxfield said Winterblast is going on a hiatus this year, after gaining lots of attention and influx of visitors.

"There were people showing up to advertise their businesses in the parade and not really having anything art, no art engagement, people showing up in plastic costumes that weren't handmade," Maxfield said.

Maxfield and Winterblast's organizers have cancelled the 2026 event. She said the price tag has become a challenge with limited community support, and Maxfield noted the event has been moving away from it's original focus for some time.

"In the years before we came on as producers, the artists had been a little bit dismayed just by drunken revelers and the crowd, and we really tried to switch the focus to the art studios first, and then after dark, the parade," Maxfield said.

Winterblast attendance in 2025 was estimated between 5-7,000 people, which Maxfield believes was driven in part by attention from communities outside Sonoma County. She said this year's hiatus will give organizers a chance to refocus.

"We just need to figure out how to put the emphasis back on an immersive arts event and not just a big street party," Maxfield said.

While there won't be a Winterblast in 2026, Maxfield said for those looking to scratch their artsy itch, galleries in Santa Rosa's SOFA Arts District are open to the public the first Friday of each month.