OXNARD — The 2022 California Strawberry Festival, which had been set for May 14 and 15 at Strawberry Meadows of College Park in Oxnard, is officially cancelled due to the uncertainty caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are disappointed that we’ve had to again cancel the Festival,” says Dean Kato, Chairman of the California Strawberry Festival Board of Directors. “Tens of thousands of festivalgoers look forward to attending the celebration each year. Sponsors, exhibitors, performers, vendors, and hundreds of volunteers are instrumental to its success.
“It takes upward of six months of planning to produce the Festival,” shares Kato. “With the stops and starts of COVID-related restrictions and the advent of the new variant during the last few months of 2021 and into the beginning of this year, it was very difficult to plan efficiently – not only for the Festival Board, but for the many vendors, sponsors, and partners as well.”
Although currently, the pandemic seems to be waning, “Our team concluded that there was not enough time, resources, and certainty to produce a festival at the level our community expects and deserves,” says Kato. “For the benefit of both partners and attendees, the Festival board made the difficult decision to pause the festival for another year. ”
The all-volunteer board is excited for the opportunity to raise the bar in 2023. “We’re already hard at work planning for a successful 2023 re-launch,” added Kato. “We will be back stronger and better than ever.”
To keep posted on the 2023 California Strawberry Festival, go tohttps://castrawberryfestival.org or Facebook@CaliforniaStrawberryFestival.