Iris Festival in full bloom
Gorgeous weather draws large crowd downtown
People of all ages enjoyed a picture-perfect day at the 20th annual Iris Festival.
Danielle Olmos, 15, daughter of John Olmos, who is an actor at the Barn Theater, said there was so much going on Saturday in downtown Porterville for the festival that it was hard to choose a favorite.
“There were a lot of people and cool stands to look at, and the Mariachi music was great,” she said. The tacos and barbecue stands and dessert booths, especially funnel cakes and kettle corn and lemonade. I had a lot of fun”
There were over 150 booths at the festival and it was crowded early because of beautiful cool weather. There were plenty of families with children, and a lot of people walking their dogs.
The Porterville Animal Shelter booth had nine dogs up for adoption and seven dogs were adopted.
“I’d like to thank the community of Porterville. We’ve had seven dog adoptions today,” said Adoption Coordinator Kaiao Fox. “They’ve saved a life. And these dogs will know a loving home, a family, and kindness.”
At a booth selling handmade pottery, John Frederick displayed his pottery with Iris flowers in the vases. He said he would have liked to see more Iris-themed activities at the festival. The Iris Society sold out of iris plants it was selling.
There were many service organizations with booths, including Sierra View Medical Center and the Porterville Family Crisis Center. Lupe Robles and Jesse Bejarano are from FCC and said April was Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Elizabeth Newsom was enjoying the festival and said it had been great.
“It’s good seeing the community get together and celebrate spring and being one together,” Newsom said. “It’s been such a wonderful positive experience. And the weather is beautiful and cool.”
Looking at a booth full of brightly colored embroidered Mexican dresses, Maria G. Mena said she looks forward to the Iris Festival every year and says it is good for Porterville and surrounding communities.
Efren Rodriquez grew up in Porterville, but said it was his first time at the festival and he was enjoying it as he walked his Husky puppy.
At the Porterville Progressive Women’s booth Sheila Bishop said the festival was great and it was a beautiful day. She said the interest in their single-payer healthcare petition for Senate Bill 562 “has been fabulous.” She and a few other women were informing and educating the public about the bill.
The Iris Festival is put on each year by the Porterville Chamber of Commerce in honor of the city’s flower. Chamber CEO Monte Reyes said there were more booths at the festival this year and the weather was wonderful. It was the best Iris Festival in many years he said.
That sentiment continued to be echoed by attendees and vendors throughout the day.
“It’s a really good turnout and the music is great and the people of Porterville are great and very happy to spend their money. It’s good to see the local businesses promoting their products and services,” said Pete Hall and his wife Jennifer from Twin Oaks near Bakersfield. They had an elegant booth, Le Chevre Doux, selling handmade goat milk soaps, lotions, and body butters.
Live music was performed over the course of the Iris Festival. The Gold Rush Band played at the festival and entertained the crowd, and another talented young band The Shallows, featuring three Porterville High students D.J. Davis, Danny Lopez, and Alfonso Ayala and Anthony Vasquez from Porterville College wowed the festival audience.
D.J. Davis said the group has been playing for about a year and a half, and they are on Instagram. Look for “theshallowsmusic” he said. They will be playing at the Porterville Fair, May 9-13.
Freda Schmidlkofer, who is a retired special education teacher in Porterville, said she always loves the festival, watching people and children enjoying themselves was fun, especially the little kids at the bungee cord booth.
The chalk drawing on Main Street hosted by Imagine Community Arts Center was popular.
Yolanda Anguiano remarked that the weather was perfect for the festival and she liked how the food booths were spaced out unlike previous festivals. She really liked the art drawing contest and wanted to purchase one of the drawings on paper. It was so good, she said.
“This is such a nice festival for families. It’s great. The city is growing so much and it is beautiful,” Anguiano said.