Riverside host the third annual Citrus Festival

It’s that time of the year where trees have shiny green leaves and are filled with vibrant colorful fruit. It’s a sight that one must experience first hand.

On April 6, California Citrus State Historical Park hosted its Third Annual Citrus Festival.

It is a community event that welcomes citrus enthusiasts to come together to celebrate the citrus heritage. This festival is held in honor of citrus and the impact that it had on Riverside. 

Citrus has  a huge influence on Riverside, allowing it to grow from a small town to a productive center for citrus production. Citrus helped attract settlers, power economic growth and forming the city’s identity. 

“We have this festival each year to bring the community together to celebrate what citrus did for not only Riverside but California as a whole,”  Jenna Brockman, a program assistant for the Friends California citrus park, said. 

This event brought everybody together as well as all the different people and cultures who’ve played an important part in the citrus industry’s history, Brockman added.

Brockman helped organize this event and provided information at her booth where she passed out maps of the park and answered many questions pertaining to the citrus fest.

“This is sort of subsequent to the original Orange Blossom Festival in downtown Riverside that went on for several years without an orange blossom or a citrus Festival,” Andrew Emery, Board member and Secretary of the board, said.

“The Citrus Park thought that it would be great to bring that back to the region, and what a perfect space to do it but the Citrus Park,” he said.

This is the third year that the citrus festival has been running and encouraging friends and families to partake in their activities. 

This festival welcomed family and pets as well. The festival had a mix of activities. This ranged from food trucks to live performances, local vendors and citrus tasting. The citrus tastings were the main attraction. 

There was a set up with a variety of different citruses that were available to the public to try. Citruses like oranges, grapefruits and lemons were featured.

At the end of the citrus tasting booth, they provided information on how to grow citrus and more information about the citrus that was being offered. 

Josh Candelario, the vendor of Josh’s Green Thumb has been with the festival for two years. 

“The community is great and everyone who comes is really nice and supportive,” he said.

Candelario gave tips and advice on how to grow and maintain plants. 

“It’s been a big passion of mine since I was a kid, so once I could get out here and start selling them and propagating them it’s like a big thing for me,” Candelario said.

The environment of the festival was content as it provided historical knowledge, local vendors, food and fun for the community to enjoy. Be on the lookout for the next annual citrus festival as it will be an exciting, amusing filled festival.