Wednesday, June 1, 2016

California Strawberry Festival Review

Family Events


By Norma Perez, Mom Blogger

MommyBlogExpert.com

Strawberry Theme Food, Crafts, Family Entertainment


My family and I had the opportunity to again attend the 33rd Annual California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard in coastal California, just about a 1-1/2 hour drive from Los Angeles proper. We've attended this outdoor event in past years and I could not have imagined that it was going to be even more fun this time around.


Norma Perez, MommyBlogExpert.com


The weather could not have been more perfect for a fabulous day of fresh air with kids in beautiful Ventura County -- sunny and warm, but not scorching hot. It definitely was a good thing we took advantage of the free alternative transportation provided because after we arrived and got off the shuttle bus, we walked right past a huge stream of cars waiting to get into the on-site parking lot for the festival.


Norma Perez, MommyBlogExpert.com


All I could think was boy what a happy crowd! Never before was I so glad to cover this wonderful event for MommyBlogExpert. With our family press passes in hand, we made our way through the gate, noting how multiple festival staff members continually offered to assist everyone, cheerfully providing help and patiently answering the same questions over and over again.


Norma Perez, MommyBlogExpert.com

A few steps later we were past the gate, surrounded by all kinds of food booths, hundreds of arts and crafts vendor tents and family friendly entertainment galore. Judging by the enthusiasm around the booth, it was easy to see that the Strawberry Beer and Strawberry Wine drinks -- both served in commemorative glasses to take home -- were among the most popular of all the refreshments for sale, with proceeds going to support local charities.


Norma Perez, MommyBlogExpert.com

Norma Perez, MommyBlogExpert.com

Norma Perez, MommyBlogExpert.com

As far as children's fun, Strawberryland was ready to please even the most adventurous kid. In the children's area the food stand that seemed to be attracting the most young and not so young strawberry lovers was probably the simply very yummy Strawberry Pop-corn and strawberry lemonade. 


Norma Perez, MommyBlogExpert.com

The strawberry hat contest was really fun. But the booth that stole the most giggles from the little ones? That was the Strawberry Tart Throwing Contest, of course. How fun it was to watch best buddies willingly lined up to have friends and family toss delicious strawberry tarts at their faces, with staff  ready to hand out wipes and everyone not doing a very good job about holding back their laughter. 


Norma Perez, MommyBlogExpert.com

Our last stop of the day was to the build your own strawberry short cake concession -- needless to say this was absolutely STRAWBERRYLICIOUS.


Norma Perez, MommyBlogExpert.com

As you can see from all the entertaining photos in this post, the festival was a blast. This is definitely a must-attend family annual event to consider attending if you're lucky enough to be in Southern California during the May weekend when it is held each year.

About California Strawberry Festival
For more information visit the official California Strawberry Festival website. You can also learn more and see additional photos from this year's event by following the organization on Twitter, FacebookInstagramPinterest and YouTube.


Image from California Strawberry Festival

FTC Disclosure: MommyBlogExpert received a family pack of all-access press passes to facilitate review of the California Strawberry Festival but did not receive payment.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.