Felix Todd pours a glass of strawberry/apple cider at Santa Cruz Cider Co. on Hangar Way in Watsonville. The cider will be featured at the Watsonville Strawberry festival. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian )

The City of Watsonville and a wealth of local businesses are gearing up for the sweetest event of the year, the annual Watsonville Strawberry Festival. 

New among the myriad food and beverage choices this year is a strawberry beer by Watsonville’s Fruition Brewing, brewed with organic local strawberries from Blossoms Biodynamic Farm and California-grown/organic grain.

Santa Cruz Cider Co. will be pouring Strawberry Cider made using local organic strawberries and local apples.

Santa Cruz Cider Company’s Strawberry Apple Cider is one of many berry-based delicacies that will be available at the Strawberry Festival. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

On top of dishing up local strawberries, there will be live entertainment, family fun, carnival rides, food booths, arts and crafts, and more in the downtown streets Friday through Sunday.

Jessica Beebe, community engagement and events supervisor for the City of Watsonville Parks and Community Services, said two other local craft breweries will also be on hand: Buena Vista Brewing Co. and & Watsonville Public House, both located in the Beer and Wine Garden.

This year’s entries for the Strawberry Festival Poster art contest, as well as posters from Strawberry Festivals past, will be on display for the first annual art contest exhibition at the Pajaro Valley Arts Porter Building, at the corner of Main and Maple streets in the center of the festival. Hours for the Strawberry Festival are Friday, August 2, 5-9pm; Saturday, 11am-8pm and Sunday, 11am-7pm.

Community Bridges WIC will feature a Breastfeeding Center inside the City Plaza on Saturday and Sunday. 

A work crew sets up for the Strawberry Festival Friday along Main Street

“The Festival will also stage the Berry Best Dressed Contests throughout the weekend, so come donning your most festive strawberry-themed attire and check in at the info booth for a chance to claim some Strawberry Festival swag,” Beebe said.

Fri., Aug 2, 5-9pm: music and carnival only.

Saturday, Aug 3,  11am-8pm: Strawberry Jam Fun Run (registration required), carnival, entertainment, food, arts and crafts, strawberries and more.

Sunday, Aug. 4, 11am-7pm: carnival, entertainment, food, arts and crafts, strawberries and more.

Free admission.

Partial street closures will begin to take place midday on Thursday and continue through Sunday.

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Tarmo Hannula has been the lead photographer with The Pajaronian newspaper in Watsonville since 1997. More recently Good Times & Press Banner. He also reports on a wide range of topics, including police, fire, environment, schools, the arts and events. A fifth generation Californian, Tarmo was born in the Mother Lode of the Sierra (Columbia) and has lived in Santa Cruz County since the late 1970s. He earned a BA from UC Santa Cruz and has traveled to 33 countries.

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