Knott’s Boysenberry Festival turns 10
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The celebration of the little berry that helped put Knott’s Berry Farm on the theme park map has returned for its 10th year — and rest assured, boysenberries reign supreme.
This year’s lineup of more than 80 boysenberry-themed menu items is nearly completely new for the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival.
“I only have four returning savory items and about six drinks,” said Laura Brubaker, Knott’s vice president of food and beverage. “The rest are all new.”
Although food is a large piece of the pie at the festival, merchandise, entertainment, themed park decor, an arts show and crafts fair all help round it out.
The festival, which opened Friday and will run daily through April 27, is now a large, annual production, but it didn’t start out that way.
“The Boysenberry Festival began in 2014 as part of an overarching spring event,” said Jon Storbeck, Knott’s vice president and general manager. “The event was so successful that in 2015 it became THE event. As the event has grown, so has the number of [food and beverage] offerings, specialty merchandise, crafter participation and entertainment.”
New entertainment for its 10th anniversary includes Boysen Bear’s Pie Kitchen Games in Calico Park and “The Great Bank Robbery” show at the Bird Cage Theatre.
Entertainment producer Christopher Do said that every year, the teams in the various Knott’s departments have the chance to bring a fresh perspective to the Boysenberry Festival.
“This year we have the chance to look into our Knott’s history and tell some great stories, whether we are leaning into our friends from Bear-y Tales, to a melodrama that takes place within Knott’s Berry Farm for ‘The Great Bank Robbery,’ and of course telling the story of our founders in ‘Knott’s Preserved,’” he said.
“Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair” 4D interactive dark ride debuted in 2021 at the park as a nod to its history and the original dark ride. Characters from the ride are part of the Boysen Bear’s Pie Kitchen Games.
“Two of our sneaky coyote pups, Moxie and Brawny, have stolen our pies,” Do said. “Our games now feature Boysen Bear as guests help to bring together all the ingredients to replace the stolen pies, culminating with a kids pie-tasting contest before our big pie-eating contest at the Calico Mine Stage.”
“The Great Bank Robbery” comedy melodrama is another homage to the park’s past.
“Knott’s Berry Farm has been entertaining for decades, and with that comes locations and stories that our guests have come to know and love,” Do said. “‘The Great Bank Robbery’ tells the story of Ernie Evertrue being put to the test as notorious bank robber Bells Colton sets his sights on the Calico Bank. The story takes place in Calico and there may even be a nod to a few classic Knott’s Berry Farm landmarks.”
“Knott’s Preserved: A Musical Celebration” is a returning show telling the story of Walter and Cordelia Knott and Knott’s Berry Farm through music and dance, according to Do.
“This year, we have added some video elements to help continue to tell our rich history and unique story, from what a berry stand off of Beach Boulevard was to where we are today,” he said.
This year, the “Tied Up in Knott’s” art show, located at the Factory Store, features 45 Southern California artists.
“This show features some incredible work that showcases Knott’s uniqueness,” Do said. “Jesstasmic created a fully functioning lamp with a hand-sculpted base fabricated after Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner with a stained-glass lampshade. Vincenzo Savastano took inspiration from [classic Knott’s character] Whittles and created packing for a ‘Super Whittles in Boysenberry Land’ video game. Phineas Huckleberry recreated Doctor Fox’s wagon from Bear-y Tales in an ultraviolet 3D miniature with soundbite from the original ride.”
But of course, boysenberry-themed food features prominently at the annual festive, and this year is no different.
While there aren’t many returning items this year, Brubaker said the boysenberry honey garlic chicken wings, boysenberry elote and boysenberry Hefeweizen beer are so popular that they’ve become staples.
“People rant about these items, they become best sellers and there is mutiny if I don’t have them the following year,” she said.
Experimentation with boysenberry is part of the fun of creating the dishes and drinks that can range from a slight essence of the berry to a complete palate takeover.
“The boysenberry is such a versatile fruit, we are so lucky that it can float into a savory drink or sweet item so well,” Brubaker said. “In a barbecue sauce or even as a drizzle, who doesn’t like a little sweet in their life?”
She said some of the most outside-the-box boysenberry dishes on the menu this year include short rib lasagna — the boysenberry is in the meat and cheese layer. Tres leches funnel cake has boysenberry in the funnel batter. The chile verde has boysenberry in the sauce — giving it a purple hue as opposed to the green typical of the traditional Mexican dish.
“[For the ] tiramisu, we had to make sure the purple didn’t turn green and look moldy,” she said.
With all of the experimenting over the years, Brubaker can’t think of an ingredient that doesn’t work with boysenberry.
“Sometimes the chefs just need to tweak them,” she said. “I recall a boysenberry marinara that was not good, too sweet for the sauce, and one time we tried to [make] a curry, but it turned out gray.”
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