Strawberry Festival Packs Them In--78,000

OXNARD —  Maybe it was the performance by the Rembrandts, who sing the theme to the popular sitcom “Friends.” Maybe it was the event’s growing reputation as one of the top knickknack fairs in the state.

Maybe it was just the near-infinite supply of plump, red, juicy strawberries.

Whatever the case, more than 78,000 people visited the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard’s College Park this weekend. Roughly 41,000 people attended Sunday.

Organizers estimated that the event brought in more than $100,000 for the 30 nonprofit groups who set up booths. One of the more popular attractions, the make-your-own-strawberry-shortcake tent, served an estimated 22,000 shortcakes during the two-day festival.

“This is great,” said Bernice Hagen of Simi Valley, looking around the festival’s food court in amazement at the bounty of strawberry delights. “We’re definitely looking to get a whole bunch of strawberries before we leave.”

Hagen and her husband, Karl, are fairly modest strawberry eaters, she said. But their grandchildren--Christopher, 6, and Nicholas, 3--are major fiends. Their mammoth urge would have to be satisfied.

“Christopher is an addict,” Hagen said, giggling. “Our friend brought some strawberries home last night, and he just ate them all. His little mouth was all red.”

Christopher, of course, had a different version of events, significantly downplaying his berry-eating prowess.

“I like them with sugar,” he said before turning back to his hot dog.

The hubbub over the different strawberry strains--the smaller, better-tasting Chandlers and Seascapes versus the bigger, more-durable Camarosas--was in full force among the festival’s produce vendors, with each claiming their berries were best.

“We don’t have to worry about longevity because we just go to festivals and markets, so we’re not switching to the Camarosas,” said Jennifer Magana of Oxnard’s Iwamoto & Gean Farm, which only carries Chandlers and Seascapes. “Once people try these, they almost always agree that they are better.”

But the strawberry-starved crowds seemed largely oblivious to the berry battle, lining up for strawberry smoothies and chocolate-covered berries at $1.50 a pop.

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“There’s no complaints about the food,” said Margaret Garavito of Downey, who had attended the festival several years ago and convinced her sister and niece Sunday morning that the drive to Oxnard was more than worthwhile. “But they need more space.”

Her niece, Sandy Cisneros, agreed. The festival featured almost every conceivable strawberry concoction--but you had to struggle through huge crowds just to find them, she said.

“We love strawberries,” Cisneros said, feeding a juicy one to her 1-year-old son, Julian. “But it took me an hour and a half to find one with chocolate on it.”

The Rembrandts easily filled the festival’s main stage area Sunday afternoon as the crowd of mostly “Friends” fans lined up to hear the series theme, “I’ll Be There.” Many of them were also curious to find out what else the band sang.

“She wanted to see the Rembrandts,” said 33-year-old Kristi Mayfield of Moorpark, pointing to her friend, Anne Trimailo.

“I know the song from ‘Friends’ anyway,” Trimailo said, laughing. “I wonder if they even have anything else.”

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As 15-year-old Summer Smith of Ventura could have told her, they do. She was one of the few in the crowd who said she owned a Rembrandts CD, although she’s none too impressed.

“They have other ones,” she said. “But so far, that’s about the only song they’ve got that’s any good.”

As usual, the festival’s arts-and-crafts section was packed with people browsing through the diverse selection of art, toys, clothes and bric-a-brac from 250 artists and craftspeople.

“It’s always a very nice show,” said Mary Cox of Nevada, a professional vendor whose cloth quilt dolls, Mary’s Little Brats, were a top attraction. “This show probably has the nicest arts and crafts of any show I do.”

But some vendors said there was too much browsing and too little buying Sunday.

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“Everybody knows about this now,” said Michelle McLaren of Oxnard, who has been selling her glass cookie jars at the festival for four years. “People know they can come here and buy these types of things now. But there’s a lot of lookers here today.”

Nevertheless, McLaren, whose stand appeared to be doing fine business, said she would be a fool not to come back to the California Strawberry Festival next year.

“This thing just keeps getting bigger,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll do great next time.”