Although the temperature here has been hot and humid all week, its technically fall time! And with fall come’s harvests, festivals and holidays! To kick off the next few weeks of harvest festivals, this week’s trip of the week took us north of Los Angeles toward Santa Barbara to the city of Carpinteria for the 24 th Annual Avocado Festival…better known as AvoFest!

The idea of the California Avocado Festival began in 1986 at a brainstorming meeting which was called to create an ongoing weekend event that would benefit the fundraising efforts of the local non-profit groups. It seemed the plan would also help promote Carpinteria as a Southern California weekend getaway destination and boost the local economy.

Santa Barbara County is the third largest avocado producer in North America, with Carpinteria being a major contributor. And there it began...the California Avocado Festival.  The festival has evolved into one of the largest in California with three days of fabulous food, terrific music, and great safe family fun.

As the Festival grows, so do the number of participants and festival-goers. This year over forty non-profit groups benefited by catering to 100,000 avocado visitors. The California Avocado Festival itself is a non-profit group that generates it’s own operating revenue each year. The annual event is completely organized by a committee of volunteers, and includes one part-time staff person.

You are probably wondering “what is there to do at such a festival?” Aside from eating…there are numerous stalls selling jewelery, arts and crafts from local artisans. There is rock climbing wall, a kid zone, face painting and an avocado art contest where local school children create art using the avocado!

But the focus of the festival is eating! There are numerous stalls selling guacamole, tacquitos with guacamole, shrimp cocktail with avocados, and of course the Guacamole recipe contest where prizes are awarded. Perhaps the greatest novelty is McConnell’s Avocado Ice Cream! I admit it…I tried it and it’s not too bad!

There’s plenty of entertainment with live bands and even a drum circle on Sunday afternoons!

After romping and eating around the AvoFest I decided to explore a little of Carpinteria and find out more about this city aside from the fact that it is one of the largest growers of Avocados in Santa Barbara.

Carpinteria is a small oceanside city located just south of Santa Barbara. The Spanish named the area Carpinteria because the Chumash tribe, which lived in the area, had a large seagoing canoe-building enterprise, or "carpentry shop" there; this was due to the availability of naturally-occurring surface tar which was used to seal the boats. You can still see the tar oozing out of the bluffs at Tar Pits Park, on the beach just south of the campground.

Carpinteria Beach is known to have a gentle, sloping terrain and calm waves and touts itself as the “safest beach in the world”. Seals and sea lions can be seen in the area December through May, as well as an occasional gray whale. Tidepools contain starfish, sea anemones, crabs, snails, octopuses and sea urchins. A popular campground is located adjacent to the beach. There is good bird watching at Salt Marsh Nature Park.

Since 1987, the California Avocado Festival has been held in Carpinteria on the first weekend of October.

With my love of history, I was excited to find out at the AvoFest that they actually had a booth devoted to the history of the Avocado! The California avocado is a native American plant with a long, distinguished history. Today, the most popular variety is the Hass. The mother tree of all Hass avocados was born in a backyard in La Habra Heights, California.

The avocado (Persea americana) originated in south-central Mexico, sometime between 7,000 and 5,000 B.C. But it was several millennia before this wild variety was cultivated. Archaeologists in Peru have found domesticated avocado seeds buried with Incan mummies dating back to 750 B.C. and there is evidence that avocados were cultivated in Mexico as early as 500 B.C.

Spanish conquistadores loved the fruit but couldn't pronounce it and changed the Aztec word to a more manageable aguacate, which eventually became avocado in English. The first English-language mention of avocado was by Sir Henry Sloane in 1696.

Fast forward to 1871, when Judge R.B. Ord of Santa Barbara successfully introduced avocados to the U.S. with trees from Mexico. By the early 1900s, growers were seeing the avocado's commercial potential and ever since growers, enthusiasts and researchers have been hunting for improved varieties. By the 1950's around 25 different varieties of avocados were being commercially packed and shipped in California, with 'Fuerte' accounting for more than two-thirds of the production. Even though 'Hass' was discovered in the early 1930's and patented by Rudolph Hass in 1935, it was not until large-scale industry expansion occurred in the late 1970s that 'Hass' replaced 'Fuerte' as the leading California variety.

Today, California is the leading producer of domestic avocados and home to about 90% of the nation's crop. Most California avocados are harvested on 60,000 acres between San Luis Obispo and the Mexican border, by about 6,800 growers. San Diego County, which produces 60% of all California avocados, is the acknowledged avocado capital of the nation.

A single California avocado tree can produce up to 200 pounds of fresh fruit each year, approximately 500 pieces, although most average around 60 pounds or 150 pieces of fruit.

So if you love avocados, or interested in novelty festivals, the AvoFest is the place to go! Aside from a wonderful festival, the quaint city provides escape from the bustling metro area and provides an ambiance of a seaside community with camping, surfing, and lounging in the sun. If you decide to go the AvoFest, it is always the first weekend of October and admission is free. Due to crowds there is parking and shuttle service however this is $10.

Next week….The Apple Festival!