TRAVEL TALES: STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL KEEPS ON GROWING.Byline: Susanne Hopkins Daily News Travel Editor Get ready to OD on strawberry shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake is a licensed character owned by American Greetings, originally used in greeting cards and expanded to include dolls, posters, and other products. and tune in to the mantra of the weekend, ``Strawberry fields forever,'' as Oxnard serves up its annual California Strawberry Festival A Strawberry Festival is an event and celebration in many towns in North America. In most instances, areas around these towns are, or have been, deeply involved in the production and marketing of strawberries, and the festivals are usually held in late spring around the time of the on Saturday and Sunday. About 80,000 people are expected to converge on the 20-acre festival site at College Park on South Rose Avenue (renamed Strawberry Meadows for the weekend) to enjoy the strawberry-themed events, musical entertainment, activities for kids, and an 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. show. If you've ever yearned to build the world's tallest strawberry shortcake, toss a strawberry tart at some good-natured soul or try a hot dog with strawberry sauce, this is the place to do it. Nonprofit groups dish up dish up Verb to serve (food) Verb 1. dish up - provide (usually but not necessarily food); "We serve meals for the homeless"; "She dished out the soup at 8 P.M. just about every conceivable (and not-so-conceivable) strawberry dish (like strawberry popcorn and pizza) and contests such as the tart toss revolve around Verb 1. revolve around - center upon; "Her entire attention centered on her children"; "Our day revolved around our work" center, center on, concentrate on, focus on, revolve about the red berry Red Berry may refer to:
Toe-tappin' tunes ring out courtesy of the dozen musical acts performing each day. This year's headliner is Big Mountain, a reggae and pop band performing at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Many of the musical acts are local, said Shelley Merrick, festival executive director. Visitors can tune into jazz, swing, rock, blues, disco, Cajun, Celtic, 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. , hip-hop - even Nigerian pop tunes - presented at stages throughout the park. The festival also includes nearly 300 arts and crafts booths featuring everything from jewelry and ceramics to furniture and sculptures. ``We've added 30 crafts booths this year,'' said Merrick, adding that the arts and crafts show is juried. About 500 artists from throughout the country applied to be in the show, organizers said. This being a family affair, kids aren't forgotten. They have their own corner of the site, aptly named Strawberryland. ``We want to really bring families out there,'' said Don DeArmond, festival board chairman. So, Strawberryland features more hands-on activities this year, as well as a petting zoo, clowns, train rides, contests and entertainment. In-line skating team Eric Wiley and Deanna Wilshire also will perform. The event, started by Oxnard's late mayor, Dr. Tsujio Kato, is a tribute to the city's 4,800 acres of strawberry fields, which produce more than 130,000 tons of the fruit annually. Started in 1984, it was first staged at Channel Islands Harbor. About 25,000 people showed up. ``They were completely overwhelmed by the number of people who came,'' said publicist Aileen Stein. ``We managed to create the largest traffic jam Channel Islands Harbor had ever seen,'' said DeArmond, who was a volunteer at that first event. The festival has grown each year since; it moved to College Park, where parking is more plentiful, in 1991. Search here for berried ber·ried adj. 1. Having or bearing berries: berried branches; a berried plant. 2. Resembling a berry or berries: "an off-dry, berried flavor" treasure The California Strawberry Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at College Park, 3250 S. Rose Ave., Oxnard, 60 miles north of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. off the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. (101). Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for seniors 65 and over and children ages 2-12. Parking is available free at the festival site. A shuttle bus also will pick up and return Amtrak Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., authorized to operate virtually all intercity passenger railroad routes in the United States. Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 in response to more than two decades of continuous operating deficits by privately run passengers to the Oxnard Transportation Center, 201 E. Fourth St. Amtrak offers a special round-trip fare for those going to the festival. Cost for those traveling from Chatsworth on the train is $24 round trip (regularly $32); from Glendale-Burbank, it's $27 (regularly $36). Children travel for half the regular price. Information: (800) 872-7245. Festival information: (805) 385-7578. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box Photo: (1) Putting on a competitive face to devour a contest-winning amount of strawberry shortcake is but one of the activities at the California Strawberry Festival on Saturday and Sunday. (2) Nonprofit groups dish up just about every conceivable (and not-so-conceivable) strawberry dish at the Oxnard event. Box: Search here for berried treasure (See Text) |
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