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Celebrate Knott’s historic berry during Knott’s Boysenberry Festival, March 19 – April 3, in Ghost Town, the heart of the theme park. The 16-day food festival features over 70, one-of-a-kind boysenberry inspired fare, drinks and more, the Wine and Craft Brew Tasting Garden, plus live entertainment and fun the whole family will love! From sun up to sun down, the festival features dueling fiddlers, PEANUTS Party in the Park, vine dancing, live music, Jammin’ in the Dark (a nighttime dance party). Festivalgoers can also shop for the perfect handmade gift at dozens of craft vendors located in Ghost Town. The limited-time festival is included with admission to Knott’s Berry Farm.
In the 1930s Walter Knott harvested the boysenberry, a cross between a loganberry, red raspberry and blackberry, and named the new berry after its originator, Rudolph Boysen. Today, all boysenberries in the world can trace their roots back to Knott’s Berry Farm. In 2015, the Park made delicious history with the debut of the Fun Bun during the Boysenberry Festival. Returning in 2016, the widely acclaimed culinary creation is a deep fried cinnamon roll with boysenberry cheese topping that will not disappoint. During the food fest, over 70 unique boysenberry inspired food, drinks and more will be offered, including the delectable Berry Market Boysenberry BBQ sauce which adds the perfect flavor to ribs, BBQ chicken, chicken wings, and more. Other must try items include crispy deep fried alligator bites that are paired with farm-made zesty boysenberry aioli, deep fried boysenberry ice cream, finger-lickin boysenberry BBQ wings and many more delicious treats. Additional fee for tastings. Guests who want to take home the exquisite Boysenberry BBQ sauce, Boysenberry Butter, Boysenberry Mustard and more, can do so by stopping by the Berry Market located in the MarketPlace and General Store located in Ghost Town. Select items are available on the online Berry Market store.
In honor of the famous berry, guests can wine, dine, dance, and buy boysenberry inspired products throughout the winding streets of the Old West. Festival entrances will feature rustic banners and oversized boysenberries, just ripe for taking that special photo.
Walter & Cordelia Knott’s Original Roadside Boysenberry Stand will be recreated for the special event, from which guests can purchase authentic boysenberry plants. The Knott family sold freshly picked boysenberries from the original stand, and the rest, as they say, is history!
As part of the festival, the Wine and Craft Brew Tasting Garden, located inside of Ghost Town’s Wilderness Dance Hall, will feature boysenberry wine, beer and cider, plus an assortment of wine and craft brew labels, in addition to a variety of gourmet food that’s just bursting with flavor. Just outside of the Dance Hall, towering sculpted topiaries provide shade during warm spring days and twinkle brighter than stars at night.
The Boysenberry Festival also features an extensive line up of live entertainment. At the heart of all of the excitement is Birdcage Square, located in front of the famous Bird Cage Theatre. Here, a stage will be set for daily contests like pie eating, a pie walk, Grandpa’s Boysenberry PJs Contest, where guests will race to stuff the oversized long johns with balloons, and more. In the evening, the Square will have guests kicking up their heels with vine dancing, a down home jug band and dueling fiddlers and banjos! At night, just inside of the Bird Cage Theatre, things get krazy when Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies mount their toe tappin’, knee-slappin’, gut-bustin’ country comedy show that will have audiences clamoring for more! Just across from the Theatre on the Fireman’s Brigade stage, live bands will play Country music’s best tunes from dusk to Park closing.
Right up the road from Birdcage Square, kids can join the classic Bear-y Tales characters in their very own pie making kitchen inside of Ghost Town’s Craft Barn. With the help of Razz Bear-y, Boysen Bear-y and the other Bear-y family members, each beautifully painted scene will follow the world famous boysenberry from field to blue ribbon winning pie! The pint sized chefs can also make their very own delightfully sweet boysenberry tarts complete with a crumble topping. Additional cost applies for tart making.
Check-out this Photo Gallery of Some of the Food Offerings during the Festival!
Located in the Boardwalk area, the iconic Charleston Circle fountain transforms into a beautiful floral fountain, adorned with colorful flowers and boysenberries creating an iconic centerpiece for the celebration. PEANUTS Party in the Park celebrates spring in a big way with infectious music, vibrant set design, and an invitation for the audience to be a part of the show! After sundown, Calico Stage will transform into an immersive nighttime dance party, Jammin’ in the Dark, complete with LED lighting effects affixed to the stage where DJ HowLy will spin the hottest dance music for all ages. The boysenberry celebration is almost too much fun to stomach!
While strolling through the bustling streets of Ghost Town, guests can capture the moment and the memories at boysenberry themed stand-in cutouts, like wanted posters, a boysenberry farming family and more. Festivalgoers can also watch special demonstrations including a chainsaw wood sculpting, glass blowing and blacksmithing. While enjoying the festival, guests may meet Ghost Town’s mayor, Mayor Desmond Ryder and his lovely wife, Josephine. From day to night, Ghost Town has never looked so lively.
Springtime fun has also taken root in Camp Snoopy and Fiesta Village. During the limited-time event, the whole family can meet the Easter Beagle in his Camp Snoopy home, blooming with colorful springtime décor. The meet and greet location is the perfect place for shareable moments with the boisterous beagle and his friends – Charlie Brown, Lucy, Sally, and Linus. In Camp Snoopy Theatre, Lucy’s Really BIG Spring Show will showcase the PEANUTS pals singing, dancing, and celebrating springtime. The theater will be filled with the sweet sound of little ones as they singing-along to the to the show’s cheerful tunes! Guests don’t have to be experts at the cha-cha-cha to enjoy nighttime dancing with the Opa Opa Salsa Band in Fiesta Village. Everyone will be sure to take to the floor and dance to the rhythmic beat of popular Latin music.
The Boysenberry Festival is included with admission to Knott’s Berry Farm, additional cost for food tasting experiences within the event, which also offers a full day of thrilling coasters and family fun rides. Knott’s has extended hours, 10am to 10pm, from March 19 – April 3, allowing guests extra time to take advantage of all of the limited-time offerings.
Join the conversation and share your day of boysenberry fun by using #BoysenberryFestival on Twitter and Instagram.
