Residents and visitors busted out their favorite green clothes and avocado prints on Saturday to celebrate the 39th annual California Avocado Festival on Linden Avenue in Carpinteria.
The festival was full of unique avocado-infused foods like ice cream, chocolate, deep-fried avocados, avocado shrimp cocktail, and of course large, locally sourced avocados.
Carolina Guerrero enjoyed some tacos and coffee while her toddler had some corn in a cup. Even though she’s a Santa Barbara local, this was only Guerrero’s second time at the festival.
“We came just to have fun,” Guerrero said. “I’m bringing my daughter — she was a baby last time, but now she’s a toddler so she actually gets to enjoy it.”
Guerrero said they danced to some music, bought avocado festival shirts, and she was planning to take her daughter to a face painting booth.
“It’s awesome because you get to see familiar faces and faces that you don’t normally run into, and it’s nice just to see all the kids enjoying themselves as well,” Guerrero said.
Local bands played music from several stages along Linden Avenue, giving people a place to dance and for kids to burn off some energy.
KEYT’s John Palminteri hosted the strong arm contest where contestants competed to see who could hold a 5-pound bag of avocados the longest.
While other contestants had shaky arms throughout the contest, dropping out one by one, Mike Harrison from Camarillo held out a steady arm for seven minutes, making him the winner.
While his arm was “pretty tired” after the contest, Harrison reveled in the victory.
“It feels great to win,” Harrison said. “I kept thinking, ‘Just don’t quit, just keep going.’”
Harrison said he knew he was going to enter the contest but that he didn’t practice at all beforehand. Some of the other contestants said they were practicing since last year’s festival. After winning, Harrison was ready to enjoy the rest of the festival.
“I’m just having fun at the avocado festival,” Harrison said. “Brought my wife, we’re having a good time. We try to get here when it comes around, and today was a good day.”
The festival included a Ferris wheel, several booths with local vendors selling jewelry, Carpinteria and avocado-inspired merch, art and handmade accessories.
The Bliss Family Expo Tent near Carpinteria Avenue featured educational materials about the local agriculture industry and the history of avocado farming in California.
Carly Caswell was attending the festival for the first time after hearing about it from friends.
“I had heard that it was a really fun event, and had some friends that have gone in the past and decided to check it,” Caswell said.
Caswell said she walked around, looking at the booths and listening to music. Her favorite part of the festival was all the avocado-themed foods, and she was intrigued by Rori’s avocado-flavored ice cream.
“I came down from Santa Barbara and love coming to Carpinteria just for kind of the local small town feel, and it definitely feels like that today,” Caswell said. “It’s nice to see so many people out in the street and supporting local businesses too.”
The festival is held on Linden Avenue between Carpinteria Avenue and Sixth Street. Carpinteria’s largest event of the year will continue on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
