Strawberry Festival is returning for holiday
After pandemic pause, theme of the four-day event is `Celebrating Essential Workers'
After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the popular Garden Grove Strawberry Festival is slated to return over Memorial Day weekend.
The 62nd annual festival kicks off today at 1 p.m. with carnival rides, contests, live music and what's billed as the largest strawberry shortcake in the world at the Village Green, 12732 Main Street.
Before the COVID-19 health emergency forced organizers to call off the festival in 2020 and 2021, the four-day festival drew as many as 300,000 attendees.
“The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival will be back live this year, stronger than ever,” said Patrick “Pat” Catlin, president of the Strawberry Festival Association.
On Saturday, Celebrity Grand Marshall Kathy Garver, best known for her role as “Cissy” in the 1960s TV show “Family Affairs,” will lead a parade that begins at 10 a.m., at 9th and Chapman streets.
The theme of this year's program is “Celebrating Essential Workers.” Garden Grove Police Chief Tom Dare will serve as grand marshal for the parade, and Catlin said the event will be presented “in loving memory of the late and beloved Lieutenant John Reynolds.”
Admission to the festival and most of the related events are free. Fees for the carnival rides range from $3 to $8, though one-price, ride-all-day wristbands will be on sale for $35 today and $40 on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The festival also will sell a $15 “fastpass” that will provide users with access to separate, faster lines.
Entertainment will include tribute bands featuring music by Aerosmith, Tom Petty and Green Day. contests will range from old favorites, like the “Berry, Berry Beautiful Baby,” to a new design-afloat competition for kids ages 5-12 and a brick-building contest with LEGOs or other plastic materials for children ages 5-17.
Traffic in the area is expected to be heavy through Monday. Also, several streets — Ninth Street between Jerry Lane and Orangewood Avenue; Chapman Avenue between West and Nelson streets; and Euclid Street between Orangewood Avenue and Garden Grove Boulevard — will be closed 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Main Street also will be closed to through traffic from today through May 31, according a city news release.
The annual event is run by a non-profit association that offers scholarships to local students and grants to various non-profit organizations.
Since its inception, in 1958, the festival has raised more than $7 million for local charities, according to its website.