DESERT IN BLOOM : LANCASTER TO SALUTE POPPIES.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer The problem with basing an annual extravaganza on Mother Nature's whims is that she doesn't always cooperate. But organizers of the California Poppy California poppy: see poppy. California poppy Annual garden plant (Eschscholzia californica) in the poppy family, native to the western coast of North America and naturalized in parts of southern Europe, Asia, and Australia. Festival are adamant the show must go on - even if the blooms don't. ``Nature rarely throws us bouquets, but that doesn't shut us down,'' said Tom Tanner, chief ranger at the state Poppy Reserve in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley . Less than six inches of rain this season and an unseasonably warm winter brought just a tattered blanket of orange to the Antelope Valley's hillsides in February, a good two months before the season. Then last month's dry weather wreaked havoc on the poppies, extinguishing most of the blooms till next year. Nevertheless, thousands of visitors are expected in Lancaster Park this weekend at the sixth annual festival to celebrate the state flower and its normal abundance in the high desert. Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for seniors and children 6-11, and free to children 5 and under. Free shuttles will take visitors to the reserve, where one field is still in bloom. ``We'll have some fun, we'll see our neighbors and we'll show off our community,'' Lancaster Councilman Mike Singer said. The festival will run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the park, 43011 N. 10th St. W. To drive to the reserve, exit the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. at Avenue I and travel west for 15 miles, then follow the signs. Festival events will run the gamut from arts, crafts and photo exhibits to live jazz, blues and bluegrass bluegrass, any species of the large and widely distributed genus Poa, chiefly range and pasture grasses of economic importance in temperate and cool regions. In general, bluegrasses are perennial with fine-leaved foliage that is bluish green in some species. . A fine arts show will feature the works of more than 175 vendors and artists from across the Southwest. Items will include paintings, pottery, clothing, jewelry, furniture, ceramics and glass for sale. A photography contest will be held and the works of wildflower wildflower Any flowering plant that grows without intentional human aid. Wildflowers are the source of all cultivated garden varieties of flowers. A wildflower growing where it is unwanted is considered a weed. photographer Jane S. Pinheiro will be exhibited. The Poppy Stage at the city park will be the scene of musical entertainment beginning with The Whitcher Brothers bluegrass group at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Also featured during the day are Nothing but the Blues, the Freddie Brooks Blues Band and The Thin Men. Sundays performers include jazz guitarist Jazz guitarists are guitar players who play jazz music using an approach to playing chords, melodies, and improvised solo lines which is called jazz guitar playing. The guitar has a long history in jazz music, both as an ensemble instrument performing chordal accompaniment, and as Norman Brown Norman Brown may refer to:
As for the poppies? Well, the display was better than last year, Tanner said. ``It wasn't a spectacular carpet like the flowers in '91 and '95, but it's been respectable,'' he said. ``It was an early year, an unusually early year,'' he said. ``We had some very nice showings of flowers, several of which have already gone to seed. But there is still a nice area of scattered poppies at the front of the reserve.'' While Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern was deluged with rainfall and Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, was boasting a healthy rain season, the high desert went dry, receiving less than six inches of rain. Even last week's cold spell Noun 1. cold spell - a spell of cold weather cold snap while, spell, patch, piece - a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition; "he was here for a little while"; "I need to rest for a piece"; "a spell of good , which left measurable rain in Palmdale, didn't touch the reserve with precipitation, Tanner said. Nevertheless, Tanner encourages festivalgoers to take the shuttle to the reserve, enjoy a picnic or hike the seven miles of trails with their spectacular vistas of the valley. POPPY FESTIVAL 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Lancaster City Park, 10th Street West and Avenue L. Admission: $4 for adults; $2 for seniors and children 6-11; children under 6, free. Free shuttle bus to California Poppy Reserve with paid admission. 200 arts and crafts arts and crafts, term for that general field of applied design in which hand fabrication is dominant. The term was coined in England in the late 19th cent. as a label for the then-current movement directed toward the revivifying of the decorative arts. vendors. 30 food booths. Children's carnival rides and games. Jazz, blues, bluegrass. Strolling performers. Flower market. Chalk art drawing. Wildflower photography contest. Art exhibit. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (color in SAC and AV only) It was a dry winter in the high desert, but visitors to the California Poppy Festival in Lancaster can still spot some blooming buds Jeff Goldwater/Daily News Box: Poppy Festival (see text) |
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