Proclamation at City Council on September 5
The Goleta Lemon Festival is coming up on Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1 at Girsh Park in Goleta and it’s an extra special one. The festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary! Here at the City, we are preparing our booth area and excited to see you there. Stop by and say hello and spin the wheel for a prize.
The Goleta Lemon Festival is an important tradition for our community and on September 5, 2023 ,the Goleta City Council will proclaim September as Lemon Month in the City. Make sure to wear yellow and eat your favorite lemon-flavored food all month long.
The Goleta Lemon Festival, put on by the South Coast Chamber of Commerce, celebrates the rich history and role lemon harvesting has in the region. Around 1875, Sherman Patterson Stow, of Goleta’s Rancho La Patera, planted the first known commercial lemon orchard in California, numbering 3,000 trees. In this way, lemons became the first irrigated agricultural commodity of the Goleta Valley.
What started as a small street festival in 1949, The Goleta Lemon Festival has grown to attract more than 40,000 people. The festival is Goleta’s largest community event of the year, hosting over 80+ booths featuring local non-profit organizations, crafts, lemony foods and beverages, and lemon-themed souvenirs.
There is so much to enjoy. You can shop, enjoy live entertainment with a wide variety of musical styles, including Rock, Country, Blues, R&B, and more. Don’t miss the headliner, Area 51 on stage Saturday afternoon.
Grab an all-inclusive activity wristband for endless rides and games for the kids including archery tag, inflatable bubbles, and obstacle courses. Pre-purchase your activity wristband for a $5 savings at https://lemonfestival.com/activities-entertainment/.
The festival also features the largest interactive display of Fire, Police, and Emergency Services in the County at Safety Street. Meet the people who help keep us safe and get an up-close look at their state-of-the-art vehicles and technologies. Attendees are also invited to meet the Sheriff’s Mounted Enforcement Unit.
Saturday only, the festival will feature the 16th Annual Goleta Fall Classic Car Show showcasing a variety of cool classic cars ranging from Corvettes and Camaros to trucks and pick-ups along with motorcycles and bicycles. Enjoy refreshing lemon ale or lemon meringue pie while admiring these classics. If you have a classic car you would like to enter, register at https://lemonfestival.com/goleta-fall-classic/.
The festival could not happen without the many volunteers, ages 14 and up, who spend time planning the festival and lending a helping hand over the weekend. Applications for volunteers are now being accepted online, go to https://lemonfestival.com/get-involved/volunteers/.
For more information, visit LemonFestival.com.