Pie-eating contests will be served up starting at noon Saturday and Sunday at the Goleta Lemon Festival at Girsh Park. Arrive early to see adults and kids vie to be chosen as contestants.
Pie-eating contests will be served up starting at noon Saturday and Sunday at the Goleta Lemon Festival at Girsh Park. Arrive early to see adults and kids vie to be chosen as contestants. Credit: Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce photo

Had things worked out differently, the festival to be held in Goleta this weekend might have honored tobacco, walnuts or even lima beans. But tangy yellow lemons are touted as a symbol of the city’s agricultural past.

The Goleta Lemon Festival, now in its 31st year, has roots going back 150 years, when the citrus was first planted in this verdant valley, eventually blossoming into an $8 million-a-year industry.

Few lemon orchards remain today, but the festival lives on with sweet and tangy family fun from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Girsh Park.

Admission and parking are free.

Sponsored by the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce, it is the largest community event in Goleta, attracting more than 40,000 attendees.

Highlights include lemony dishes at food booths, plus lemon ale, lemon mimosas and other tangy beverages served in a Lemon Lounge. Lemon-inspired accessories, hats, souvenirs, and arts and crafts will be for sale. Local nonprofit organizations share their work in the community.

Live music is nonstop — and so popular that a second stage has been added. FTip, a cool-down tent with refreshments, will be available near the new Community Stage.

Entertaining (and gooey) pie-eating contests are scheduled for noon both days. Tip: Arrive early to view the hilarious selection process for adult and kid contestants.

The Kids Zone has been expanded, according to Mary Lynn Harms-Romo, the chamber of commerce’s director of communications.

“We doubled the size, taking over an entire field, and have added a mini-parkour, free-running course plus more bounce houses,” she said.

A wristband for all-day carnival rides is $30 in advance at lemonfestival.com, and $35 at the event. Tip: Older kids like the inflatable human hamster balls, the bouncy bungee swing and the climbing rock wall.

Kids also love Safety Street, where they meet Santa Barbara County first responders, and can climb in a firetruck, sit in a police car driver’s seat, peek inside an ambulance, pet police dogs and more. A “jaws of life” rescue demo will rip open a crashed car.

The Goleta Fall Classic Car Show will be on Saturday only, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s free and will include more than 100 vehicles of all makes and models, from 1930 to the modern day. Proud owners love to chat about their restored rides.

The Goleta Fall Classic Car Show will be held Saturday only, also at Girsch Park. More than 100 vehicles will be on view, including all makes and models from 1930 to the modern day, plus motorcycles, bicycles, muscle cars, stock cars and more.
The Goleta Fall Classic Car Show will be held Saturday only, also at Girsh Park. More than 100 vehicles will be on view, including all makes and models from 1930 to the modern day, plus motorcycles, bicycles and more. Credit: Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce photo

Stow’s Lemons

Goleta has earned bragging rights for lemon production, which started in 1875 when Sherman Patterson Stow planted the state’s first documented commercial lemon orchard. He had arrived from San Francisco with his bride, Ida, two years earlier and built their Carpenter Gothic Victorian home (now known as Stow House) amid 1,037 acres along North Los Carneros Road.

Goleta Valley Historical Society archivist Elise Goodell’s office is on the second floor of the original ranch bunkhouse. Walls are lined with overflowing bookshelves and large filing cabinets. File folders filled with photographs, maps and newspaper clippings cover the table.

“Stow planted a variety of crops to determine what grew best,” she said. “Walnuts did well, as did lima beans. Tobacco was a disaster, as grasshoppers decimated the crop. So, there wouldn’t be a Tobacco Festival in Goleta’s future.”  

Stow planted 3,000 lemon trees, and the rest is horticultural history. In 1896, the Santa Barbara County Lemon Growers Exchange was formed, with Stow as its first president. He passed away in 1907.

Goleta Valley Historical Society archivist Elise Goodell grew up not far from Stow House and recalls sneaking into the unfenced lemon groves that lined La Paterna Lane. “It was always a thrill,” she says.
Goleta Valley Historical Society archivist Elise Goodell grew up not far from Stow House and recalls sneaking into the unfenced lemon groves that lined La Patera Lane. “It was always a thrill,” she says. Credit: Julia McHugh / Noozhawk photo

More groves were planted in the following decades.

In 1935, the Goleta Lemon Association was formed by 60 growers representing 600 acres of lemon trees. The following year, they opened a lemon packing and storage plant near the railroad tracks. In 1947 alone, GLA shipped 1,200 carloads of lemons from 2,300 acres under cultivation — worth $3 million.

That plant burned in 1950. A new plant opened in 1951 and could process 2,000 carloads of lemons a year. Goodell reports that the lemon industry grew to be worth between $6 million and $8 million until as late as 1972. However, it faced a downturn.

Lemons vs. Houses

Goodell grew up near Stow House and remembers when lemon orchards still lined Los Carneros Drive.

“When I was a kid, there were no fences and we’d sneak into the groves,” she recalled. “It was always a thrill.”

She saw those lemon ranches — and many more — lose ground to the demand for housing as Goleta grew. Houses became more profitable than lemons. Even Stow family descendants sold off parcels in 1960. By 2023, only 1,623 acres remained under cultivation in the entire county.

During the peak season, the first Goleta Lemon Association plant employed as many as 350 workers, including many women, as seen in this photograph from 1947.
During the peak season, the first Goleta Lemon Association plant employed as many as 350 workers, including many women, as seen in this photograph from 1947. Credit: Goleta Valley Historical Society photo

However, lemons had become a symbol of the Goleta Valley. The Lemon Festival was held from 1992 to 2002, when Goleta achieved cityhood, and it moved to Girsh Park.

“The pressure between agriculture and housing has not abated,” Goodell said. “Stow House is a touchstone as we continue to struggle with growth.”

Vestiges Remain

From atop the dam on Lake Los Carneros, one can spot a distinctive arched building with paned windows just across Highway 101. That’s all that remains of the GLA plant, which closed in 1978 and now houses small businesses.  

The Giorgi family (patriarch Egisto was a GLA founder) still farms 60 acres of lemons, walnuts and avocados along Hollister Avenue.

Perhaps not for long, however. His descendants have proposed a housing development, called the Orchard. Zoning issues have stalled the project.

A large iron gate reads “La Patera Rancho” at the corner of Cathedral Oaks Road and North La Patera Lane, across from Stow Grove Park.

This lemon and avocado ranch is still owned and managed by Stow family descendants, after 154 years. Manager Zach Rissel recently gifted Stow House with six Lisbon lemon saplings.

“We’ve planted them near the entrance to the Ranch Yard among antique smudge pots,” Goodell said. “Visitors pass them on the way to our History of Agriculture museum.”

That brings local lemon lore full circle.