The 39th annual Strawberry Festival will return on May 17 – 18 from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, which is one of the changes this year rather than being held in Oxnard, like previous years.
Festival Chairman Dean Kato shared details about the event this year. He said for the most part everything will be very similar to before with mostly the same arts and crafts, food vendors, type of local bands and local strawberry growers. As you could’ve guessed he also mentioned the blood red, hand-picked, direct from a grower strawberries as the main attraction.
As far as food, the festival will include a variety of strawberry treats such as chocolate-covered strawberries, funnel cake topped with strawberries, strawberry shortcake, strawberry beer, strawberry margaritas and even strawberry pizza. There will also be artwork, jewelry and clothing for sale and new local acts performing this year.
The general admission ticket is $15 and $10 for seniors and military with ID. This covers the free shuttles, the music, the entertainment and the facility rental. Outside festival parking is $20.
Kato said, if the parking lot is full, “there will be a free shuttle from the Ventura County Government Center, Pacific View Mall in Ventura, the Esplanade Towers in Oxnard and Harbor/Schooner Drive in Ventura. There will be free shuttles that run every 15 to 20 minutes so you can park there for free. You can take Amtrak in from Oxnard, the Valley, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. A lot of people are going online to buy tickets through Amtrak.” There is also the option to find parking elsewhere and walk to the fairgrounds free of charge.
There will be a total of ten rides, five for teenagers and adults and five for toddlers and young kids. Tickets for the rides will be on sale online. Since, this will only be a two-day event, there won’t be an all-you-can-ride wristband.
Credit card payments are ideal since several vendors will be cashless. Attendees will be permitted back into the festival if they leave as long as they have a stamp on their hand before stepping out.
Tickets are available for purchase https://castrawberryfestival.org/buy-tickets/.