Big Sur, California, is four hours south of Napa and five hours north of Los Angeles, and appears ex nihilo, all ocean clear to the horizon, and then suddenly: a black mountain range jutting from an azure sea. The Santa Lucias are draped with green redwoods and spiky sagebrush, and carved into its severe mountainside, 300 feet over the misty, lapping ocean, is Route 1.
Today, Big Sur remains isolated, which for locals is its allure, but which also makes it vulnerable. Like much of California, it is prone annually to devastating wildfires. When they are at last extinguished, mudslides follow. Accordingly, emergency services are at times more cherished than even the redwoods. Because the only way in or out is Route 1, wildfires along the highway leading in or out of Big Sur alienate it further. The Big Sur Food & Wine Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit charitable trust, runs the festival and donates its proceeds to those first responders who protect the land as well as arts and educational organizations in the community.
