Avocado Festival goes virtual but the poster and collectibles are for real in 2021

CARPINTERIA, Calif. - The California Avocado Festival organizers in Carpinteria will have another virtual presentation this year, similar to 2020, but some aspects of the postponed event will be real.

Not the least will be the poster.

Out of a field of about 20 entries, this year's winning design was picked and then presented at the Farmers' Market booth on Linden Avenue Thursday afternoon.

Laurie Shaw-Kunz was the artist who used several concepts to create the poster. "I was thinking about the theme "Back to the Root," she said. "And I wanted to incorporate a tree and the roots."

The poster also has small flowers and a backdrop of the ocean with the Channel Islands.

2021 Avocado Festival President Gary Dobbins said, "This year we were really honestly trying to go live again. Many obstacles were placed in front of us. The challenge was public safety."

The festival was going to be on the Linden Avenue field instead of in the street as it has been before. That could not be worked out and organizers were unable to find another site to handle the types of crowds that enjoy the festivities.

Vendors and bands were already set if the event were to be approved.

One of the impacts of not having a festival that draws thousands of people over three days is the impact outside of the festival footprint and the loss of revenue to the bars, restaurants, retail and hotels.   

Dobbins said, "There are millions of dollars in revenue that is lost from the sales tax from what the businesses receive." He also noted the city would have also received revenue from the hotel stays through the bed taxes.

"All these factors stimulate the economy," said Dobbins. "Over a three-day period, we can have 80 to 100,000 people here that are all contributing to the community."

The festival will have a video presentation online and a show at the Alcazar theatre to keep the spirit alive. That show will be a ticketed event with a movie and live music.

There are also plans for other smaller events to raise funds especially set aside for non-profits and student scholarships.

Many of the student scholarship recipients go on to careers in agriculture.

"We're going to do fundraisers to keep the scholarships alive. All of the scholarships have to be funded. It's one of the priorities for me for ten years," said Dobbins. "Every year we have people  from these schools  that are doing their best to get to college  and if we can help that then we are all in."   

For more information go to: California Avocado Festival 2021