Surfing Strawberry Wins 2025 California Strawberry Festival Poster Contest
OXNARD, Calif. — When Helen Reyes visited the California Strawberry Festival at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, she noticed the ocean breeze and the nearby surf culture.
That moment of inspiration led her to enter the festival's annual poster contest — and win.
“I got my inspiration by actually visiting the fairgrounds last year, and I thought, ‘Oh, well, it’s so close to the ocean,’” said Reyes. “I thought, wouldn’t it be a cool idea to have a strawberry surfing on a surfboard? Maybe he makes his way on his surfboard to the festival. That would be pretty cool.”
The artist from Azusa won her first poster contest as a child, but this marks a major milestone: her design earned her a $2,000 prize and will be featured on official festival souvenirs.
The winning poster was unveiled at Yolanda’s Mexican Café in Oxnard — though the reveal didn’t go exactly as planned. Festival board chair Dean Kato accidentally knocked the covered poster down before the big moment.
Kato’s father, Dr. Tsujio Kato, founded the festival in 1984. Originally held at Channel Islands Harbor, it later moved to Oxnard College Park as attendance grew. This year, the event returns to the Ventura County Fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday, May 17–18.
Due to construction in the usual parking area, festival board vice chair Andrew Salinas is urging attendees to take advantage of shuttles, ride bikes or use the train to reach the fairgrounds.
Dean Kato said he’s especially looking forward to the live music. One of the festival’s stages is named in honor of his late father.
And of course — come hungry. Reyes said she’s most excited to make her own strawberry shortcake.
The festival raises money for scholarships benefiting children of farmworkers and supports dozens of nonprofit organizations, including Music Freaks, which provides instruments to children.
It also highlights Ventura County’s top crop. The Oxnard area produced 48 million trays of strawberries last year — nearly matching a record set in 2012.
For more information, visit castrawberryfestival.org.
