# Fake California women’s festival used ‘AI slop’ ads to trick vendors into paying $185

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/fake-california-womens-festival-used-ai-slop-ads-to-trick-vendors-into-paying-185/
- Published: 2026-11-13T20:59:47+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-13T21:27:58+00:00
- Original publisher: New York Post (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://nypost.com/2026/11/13/us-news/wine-country-womens-festival-turns-out-to-be-an-ai-slop-scam/
- Topics: AI, Technology, World

## Key points

- A fake festival advertised vendor fees of up to $185.
- Windsor cancelled its event application after fees went unpaid.
- The organiser’s identity and the number of affected people are unknown.

## Summary

A purported women’s festival in Sonoma County appears to have been a scam, with vendors and community members paying fees for an event that was never properly organised. The case has prompted questions about how the event gained local credibility and whether officials responded promptly to women who raised concerns.

The “Wine Country Women’s Festival” was advertised for Saturday at Keiser Park in Windsor, with vendor spaces and partner tickets priced from $79 to $185; a now-defunct website also listed $132 food-truck tickets. The town processed a rental application and received a deposit and insurance certificate, but later cancelled the application after fees went unpaid. Police said they received one fraud report, and the number of people who paid and the organiser’s identity remain unclear.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.