Arroyo Grande is ditching Strawberry Festival. Here’s what will take its place — for now
The Arroyo Grande Strawberry Festival is no more — but don’t worry, you’ll still have an opportunity for berry-themed fun this Memorial Day weekend.
The South County Chambers of Commerce announced Wednesday that the annual festival will be rebranded as the “Strawberry Celebration” in 2020 as it shifts focus to more local merchants and produce and a smaller footprint.
According to the release, a subcommittee of the chamber met last week to formulate “a plan for a thoughtful rebrand of the Strawberry Festival.” The move comes after the Arroyo Grande Village Improvement Association, which had long planned such events, disbanded in December.
In recent years, the festival — which celebrated its 37th year in 2019 — has drawn vendors and thousands of visitors from the San Joaquin Valley and outside San Luis Obispo County.
At its height, the event drew up to 100,000 visitors throughout the weekend, according to chamber CEO Jocelyn Brennan, but in recent years its attendance dwindled to between 25,000 and 50,000 people.
The large number of people and road closures necessary to accommodate them sparked complaints from residents in the area, as well gripes about the lack of local vendors and businesses being represented at the festival.
“There was a consensus to focus on local business,” Brennan told The Tribune on Wednesday of the recent committee meeting.
Although the Strawberry Festival was often a boon for restaurants in the area, Brennan said many of the smaller local businesses in the Village would actually close during the festival because they couldn’t deal with the large crowds.
This year’s event will be different: There will be no road closures and no out-of-town vendors, Brennan said.
“We’re trying to get it back to strawberries and agriculture, and really make it more of a hometown event,” she said. “Which was what it started out as.”
According to the chamber release, the new, smaller festival will still take place Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and include hours in the Village both days, as well as popular events like the Strawberry Blonde Contest and concerts.
It will also include local music and art, strawberry-themed drinks and dishes at Village establishments and several local vendors, according to the release.
But don’t get attached.
Brennan said this year’s changes are only temporary. In the coming years, it is possible there will be no strawberry-themed event Memorial Day weekend, she said.
The group decided to host an event similar to the Strawberry Festival tin 2020 because they knew people had already planned to come into the area for it, Brennan said. But next year, all bets are off, she said.
“We had to put something together for this year,” Brennan said. “That could change after this year.”
Over the coming months, the South County Chambers of Commerce will work with tourism experts to determine if and what sort of event the city could host during Memorial Day weekend that would support local businesses, she said.
“The overall theme is to get back to supporting local businesses,” Brennan said. “Retail is going through a disruption, so we are trying to really get the community back out to this event and to support our local businesses in that event.”
Those who wish to participate in the event can apply by calling the South County Chambers of Commerce office at 805-489-1488 or emailing office@southcountychambers.com.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 4:59 PM.
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