Indeed, the spring season brings out the grills in full force while heralding the annual Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Festival. Happening this year on Saturday, April 21 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., this signature wine event features the fare of more than 100 Santa Barbara County wineries, caterers, specialty food purveyors and restaurants, many of whom display a serious passion for the ‘cue.

They will all converge at The Carranza, a picturesque creekside meadow tucked into a valley just outside of Los Olivos in Northern Santa Barbara County. Two live bands, wine related exhibits and a silent auction to benefit local charities will round out the day. In addition to the festival, many wineries will be offering special tastings, winemaker dinners and library tastings throughout the weekend.

Click here for tickets and information or call (805) 688-0881. And for more information on touring the Santa Maria Valley wine country, visit www.santamariawines.com and www.santamariawinecountry.com.

Of course, your culinary tour doesn’t have to end at the festival. Once your appetite returns, you can pick up right where you left off with local wines and Santa Maria Style Barbecue served by numerous local restaurants. Cheers!

The valley’s moderate coastal climate is also conducive to producing world-class wines, growing some of California’s finest strawberries and…flying kites! And on April 22, in the heart of National Kite Month, the valley’s open skies and cool breezes will abound with color as the Discovery Museum hosts its annual Family Kite Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Rotary Centennial Park.

The festivities will include a kite drag race, candy drop and a “kite tail chase” where kids ages 12 and younger win prizes for catching kite tails. Expert kite flyers will be on hand to demonstrate the tricks of their trade, and amateurs of all ages are encouraged to fly their own kites. Many awards for different kite categories will also be given. Admission to the festival is free.

To celebrate National Kite Month, the Discovery Museum will feature a variety of children’s events and programs throughout the month of April. These programs include kite making, kite storytelling, and a kid-friendly discussion about aerodynamics offered during the weekly “Twilight Thursday” programs that start at 5:30 each week.

The Fairfield Inn is also getting in on the fun by offering its “Up, Up & Away Kite Festival Package” exclusively on April 20, 21 and 22. The $109 rate includes a free kite upon arrival, four tickets to the Discovery Museum, a complimentary breakfast bar, and accommodations in one of their suites.

And after all that running around flying your kite, you will no doubt work up an appetite, so you can just sail on over to one of our many local Santa Maria BBQ restaurants to end your day on a high note!

Aptly headlined “Valley of Variety,” the story explores the magnificent diversity of the Santa Maria Valley visitor experience, including barbecue, wine, nature, culture and family entertainment. As the story states, “This historic picturesque area an hour northwest of Santa Barbara lures visitors off the beaten path with plenty to see and do.”

Among the story’s featured attractions are the treasures of the Santa Maria Museum of Flight; the children’s delights at the Discovery Museum; the towering ocean views of the Guadalupe Nipomo Dunes; the “naturalists nirvana” of Los Flores Ranch Park; and the relaxed appeal of the local wine country: “Santa Maria Valley offers visitors an unpretentious opportunity to meet with winemakers at more than a dozen tasting rooms, all set among the valley’s rolling hills and lush landscape.”

Of course, Santa Maria Style Barbecue also takes center stage in the story, including a photo of Cowboy Flavor’s Billy Ruiz cutting into a steaming piece of tri-tip.

Thanks to SkyWest Magazine for their high-flying coverage of the Santa Maria Valley!

Indeed, in its 2011 Annual Report, the Santa Maria Valley Visitor & Convention Bureau reports a 12 percent increase in city “bed tax” revenues over the previous year, meaning that even amid a challenging economy, more and more people are coming to the area and staying at local hotels and motels.

It can’t hurt that Santa Maria Style Barbecue continues to garner widespread attention, with recent media coverage in FoxNews.com, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Wandermelon.com, American Cowboy Magazine, Reuters, LA Weekly, TastingTable.com and elsewhere. No doubt, more folks are following the red oak smoke to experience California’s BBQ Capital!

Other local flavors are a major draw as well. For example, word is spreading about the remarkable quality of Santa Maria Valley wines. In fact, the Wine Enthusiast named three locally grown wines to the top 10 slots on its most recent list of Top 100 Most Coveted Wines in the world! Think about that for a second…Then there’s our famous Santa Maria Valley strawberries and fertile fields of everything from cilantro to broccoli.

The valley’s award-winning theater presentations, stunning Guadalupe-Nipomo dunes and adjacent beaches, affordable world-class golf and unique cultural experiences are also beckoning you.

To help plan your next visit, check out the following three resources presented by the Official Santa Maria Valley Barbecue Blog: our Santa Maria Valley Welcome Guide, our Arts & Culture roundup, our Visitor Resources and our Santa Maria BBQ restaurants page.

It’s no secret that, amid the challenges of a rough economy, the Santa Maria Philharmonic Society was recently faced with the possibility of shutting down. Well, we are happy to report that the society has rallied and will be offering a suite of tantalizing performances this winter and into 2012.

The excitement begins with a November 19 performance by Café Musique at Grace Baptist Church.  Hailing from the Central Coast of California, this group presents a musical collage of waltz, tango, gypsy, and folk.  Then, on December 2 at First United Methodist Church, Maestro John Farrer and the Santa Maria Philharmonic Orchestra will present a Holiday Fantasy Concert. Additional performances are scheduled for February, April and May.

In addition to providing the Santa Maria Valley with a diverse range of concerts, the society reaches out to more than 5,000 elementary school students each year, thus playing a vital cultural role in the community. “We are committed to keeping the classical music art form alive in the Santa Maria Valley,” says Executive Director George J. Majoue.

It’s yet another reminder that good taste in the Santa Maria Valley isn’t limited to barbecue, wine and strawberries! Indeed, the valley abounds with concerts, theater, museums and other cultural attractions that await your exploration.

In doing so, they include Santa Barbara, which is an hour south of Santa Maria, as a hub for Santa Maria BBQ. They might have been remiss in not pointing their readers to the true landmarks of Santa Maria Style Barbecue in the Santa Maria Valley, such as Shaw’s Steakhouse, the Hitching Post and Far Western Tavern. But as they note, Santa Barbara is certainly well versed in Santa Maria BBQ, and they are probably and understandably more inclined to point readers toward places closer to major airport hubs such as Los Angeles.

That said, we will take this opportunity to remind you that the Santa Maria Valley has it’s own airport with commercial flights to and from Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Better yet, the Santa Maria Airport offers private pilots a unique “fly and dine” experience. Indeed, pilots can taxi right up to side of the airport’s Radisson Hotel, park their plane and walk to lunch at the hotel’s Vintner’s Grill. We’re told that many pilots fly into town for the grill’s famous Sunday brunch, and the Santa Maria tri-tip sandwich is a popular lunch item.

Another memorable on-site attraction is the Santa Maria Museum of Flight, which features a variety of planes, models, photos, memorabilia and exhibits, including a restored F4 fighter jet that served in Vietnam and a 1929 Fleet biplane. The museum also features several Hollywood movie props, including  an H-1 Racer from The Aviator, a full-scale Wright glider from Winds of Kitty Hawk and an original wooden hangar from The Rocketeer.

Whether you come by wheels or wings, the Santa Maria Valley is ready to welcome you with what Sunset Magazine once called “the world’s best barbecue.” So pack your appetite and we’ll see you soon!

Indeed, along with his wife Lynne and a talented crew, owner John Schlenker has constructed a new foyer for the building and given the theater an overall facelift. Even the in-house pub has been remodeled, and the theater’s colorful performers still work the counter! The menu features a variety of comfort foods, including, of course, barbecue sandwiches.

Folksy piano tunes, cabaret tables and sawdust-covered floors greet guests as they file inside for a show. But the audience is in for a lot more than a festive atmosphere. Here, professional performers from throughout the United States gather to present top-notch productions of great classic musicals, original plays and Victorian melodramas, some of which invite “boo and hiss” audience participation. The latest production is Butch Cassidy and The Sunburnt Kid, which opens on June 16.

The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville is part of a larger theater and music scene located throughout Santa Maria Valley. The nationally acclaimed Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (PCPA) remains the only professional resident company on the Central Coast and stages fine classic and contemporary live theater plays. Meanwhile, the Santa Maria Civic Theatre is the oldest theater group in the region, and offers comedies, dramas and children’s productions.  Newer on the scene, the Santa Maria Philharmonic Society has been turning heads with its development of high caliber classical concerts as well as educational programs for children.

So if you’d like some cultural attractions to go with your wine and barbecue, you have plenty of options in the Santa Maria Valley.

One such attraction is the 2nd annual Free Family Kite Festival hosted by the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museaum on Sunday, April 17 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Rotary Centennial Park. The festival is open to amateurs and professionals off all ages and you are encouraged to bring your own kite, buy a kite when you get there or just come to watch and be impressed.  Food and refreshments will be available to purchase.

The festivities begin at 11 a.m. with Kite Tail Chases for children 12 and under, which will continue throughout the afternoon. Contests for smallest kite, largest kite and best homemade kite will also be held. Kite experts will dazzle the crowd with various feats of kite artistry and kite flying skills, including Kite Ballet, Kite Precision, and Kite Freestyling. Click here for more information.

Of course, you will work up an appetite after flying or chasing all of those kites, so you’ll definitely want to refuel with a classic Santa Maria BBQ meal at one of many nearby barbecue restaurants.

Then you pull out your “Guest Survival Kit” and reveal all the other Santa Maria Valley attractions that await his exploration. Hey, there’s even a coupon for a discount at a local hotel. Hint, hint . . .

The complimentary Guest Survival Kit is the centerpiece of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitor & Convention Bureau’s new “Company’s Coming” campaign. This campaign aims to help local residents entertain their guests and encourage them to explore all that the Santa Maria Valley has to offer.

The kits come in specially marked bags and contain Santa Maria Valley promotional materials and coupons. They include:

•    The newly updated Santa Maria Style Barbecue booklet
•    Coupons offered by local businesses and attractions
•    Santa Maria Valley Visitors Guide
•    A two-sided touring map with local attraction highlights
•    The newly updated Santa Maria Valley Wine Country booklet
•    An itinerary geared for children and their parents
•    Welcome letter

The kits can be picked up by local residents at the Chamber’s Visitors Center at 614 South Broadway in Santa Maria. If you are not a local resident but would like a barbecue booklet, visitors guide or other complimentary materials to help you plan a trip to the Santa Maria Valley, call the Chamber at (800) 331-3779 with your request.

P.S. For a peek at the kits, see the linked video segments on KCOY/KKFX and KSBY.

Writer Eric Harnish and his wife spent two days in the valley: “Start exploring northern Santa Barbara County like we did on a recent weekend and you’ll find a unique Central Coast destination with a vibrant wine country, hidden foodie gems and a glimpse of California’s past.”

Along the way, they dined at the Far Western Tavern, a Santa Maria barbecue landmark: “The signature steak is the 14-ounce Bull’s Eye rib eye, which the menu says it’s ‘very tender and flavorful.’ That’s like saying Yosemite is very scenic. Mine was cooked to perfection, and every bite was red-meat nirvana. Hands down, it was one of the best steaks I’ve eaten. Ever. “

Eric added, “The Historic Santa Maria Inn served as our base of operations and we settled into a spacious top-floor suite, equipped with a full-size kitchen, fireplace, living room and bedroom…It is a homey destination where guests are made to feel relaxed and welcome. “

The trip included stops at two local wineries in the Santa Maria Valley wine country, and Eric’s conclusion sums it up perfectly: “As you might expect, the Far Western Tavern is nowhere near the freeway. In fact, their slogan says, ‘Where the pavement ends and the west begins.’ You could say the same thing about Santa Maria: Where the freeway ends, the fun begins. “

Click here for ideas on planning your own fun and flavorful trip to the Santa Maria Valley!