California Avocado Festival

Great as always lots of avocado of everything everywhere. We come from the East Bay every year. There's avocado soap, oil, tea, smoothies, avocado souvenirs, t-shirts, sweater, beach towel and so much more. It's free entrance. At the end of the street there's the beach. When we come we park at the Carpintería High School and pay $10 per car plus they have a shuttle bus that takes you to the festival. You should definitely try the avocado smoothies they're delicious 🤤

Lots of live music, which was nice. I thought there would be more avacados & avacado themed stuff. Also, there was a lot of marked up mass-produced items, no relation to avocados. There were a couple of vendors with original stuff, but they were priced insanely high. All in all, meh. If you live close, fun - but not worth a long drive, and be prepared to spend a LOT to get anything at all there.

If you love avocados as I do you will enjoy this festival. Lots of live music. Great food and all within stumbling distance of the beach!

Very cool time seeing all the vendors, the huge variety of food offered (especially using Avocado), and watching some live music on quite a few stages throughout the area. Perfect weather and time of year for this event! Be sure to come early and plan to stay a while so you can score a prime parking spot like I did today, otherwise you’ll have to keep driving all around for a while and then walk a ways, or park even further away and ride a shuttle into the area. If you love Avocados and Guacamole, then you must check out this festival!!!

Always a great time! Budget friendly if you bring in your own meal and just listen to the great music but I always want to try the great food! Carpinteria is a great friendly place to visit ANY time but the festivals have a great small town feel that welcomes visitors. Stay a few days and enjoy the beach and have fun. If you take amtrack up from LA you can come and so same day with ease and it’s a block or so from the station to the fedtival.

My family and I drove from Bakersfield on Saturday to enjoy the beautiful coast in Carpenteria. Avofest 2019 didnt disappoint. Friendly vendors, good food, enjoyable music, and lots of info on avocados. Planning to go back next year!

A fun October activity in this quaint beach town! Lots of things avocado—ice cream, brownies, guacamole, tri tips, etc. come in the morning before it gets too crowded. Right downtown. You can then walk to the beach. Or catch the Amtrak.

Such a fun festival, with food, vendors and great Entertainment. Look forward to it every year

I went to the 2024 California Avocado Festival on a Saturday and it was crowded. Not as large as I expected, but still and enjoyable afternoon in Carpentaria. Many ways to try avocados including avocado ice cream, chips with "world famous guacamole, and avocados with shrimp. With free admission and free parking (if you could find it), it was worth attending. There was much security and my family felt very safe. The music on three stages and the opportunity to walk in downtown Carpentaria made it especially enjoyable.

The Ca Avocado Festival is of our favorite little festivals in a cute little beach town. It's just one long street full of crafts, jewelry, hats, food and of course avocados. Plus several stages of entertainment from ranged from classic guitar music to hard rock! As for food anything goes with of course an avocado focus! Plus there is a tent where you can learn all about avocados! The festival is three days: so get into the fun t this festival!

Let's get avocado!! I came here with my family to walk around the avocado festival, it's small but had quite a few vendors. They had different bands at every block, different ways to eat avocado from ice cream, ceviche, taquitos, beer and more. The shops and restaurants were also open as well and they also participated in avocado products. I will say though this is a quick festival to walk, from one end to the next without stopping it's less than ten minutes. It's also near the beach, so bring a towel and enjoy the sunny weather. Note that it's only street parking so you'll be driving around for a little before you find a spot. Otherwise off the fwy they had a designated area to park and take a bus/shuttle over for free.

Carpinteria is an amazing little town, and their festivals are amazing too. It's worth it to stop and check out the local vendors and food!

I love anything avocado related & thought the avo fest was the perfect place to go & try all the avo goodies! We loved the event don't get me wrong but I will say it's a lot smaller than we thought it would be. The live music was fun but we went for the food & drinks let's be honest I got an avocado margarita that was delish, avocado fries, guacamole, tri tip sandwiches with guacamole on them... so that part was fun! I wish there were more avocado options though. Whatever those honey balls of deliciousness were called I still dream about them lol. Never the less we had a blast & I'm sure will be going back.

2022 Avocado Festival was a perfectly fun Saturday outing. I would highly recommend everyone come at least once. Especially if your an avocado fan. Pros: 1. The specific avocado foodie items are what make this place great. Giant fried avocados, avocado ice cream, hotdogs & burgers with avocado on top, guacamole, and shrimp cocktails with avocado. 2. Live Music - three stages 3. Free parking & free event 4. Ferris wheel for the kiddos 5. Opportunity to check out all the cute downtown Carpenteria stores along the festival street 6. Despite how busy the event was, we felt the food lines weren't long at all. It was a pleasant surprise (but remember this is if you came before 12). Cons: 1. Limited parking! Or maybe it was just insanely crowded? We got there only 45 minutes after the event started and we had to park a good 10+ minutes walk away. They did have a bus that would drive you back and forth from a parking designated lot a good while away but we felt like that was all "doing too much." 2. See #1. Crowds! We got there at 10:45 and were gone by 12. Heard each day has about 50,000 people coming through. This is a tiny street in Carpenteria so it does start to feel jam packed. 3. Needed more avocado merch. For being a festival titled "avocado festival" I was actually super surprised how little avocado specific vendors they had. Yes there were some avocado oils, teas, and food vendors but where was the 25+ booth of specific avocado items I was expecting? Aside from a couple booths and the booth organized by the festival the majority of the booths were cheapy clothes/random vendors. This is okay but honestly I came for more cool avocado specific vendors. All in all it's a free event and fun for all ages. For that reason I totally think it's worth it. The food was good and the town is so charming we did a lot of shopping along the street side but very little at the actual event booths. If you haven't been it's totally worth a trip. Just remember to come early and to bring some sunglasses :)

I was very disappointed with the tri-tip sandwiches this year at the avocado festival. I think the lions club sponsors the booth which I have always looked forward to. For $15, the sandwich was made with Ciabatta Bread which was really dry and there wasn't the amount of tri-tip that had been in the sandwiches in the previous years, so basically, we needed to by two, where in the past, we were able to split one. I understand that costs for everything have increased, but I will not purchase this sandwich again. It was really disappointing compared to the last several years.

A great event! It was my first time going and I loved it. There were so many people, but I never felt too squished, and my friend and I managed to find seats whenever we wanted to sit and enjoy the music or eat. There was a variety of different things that was entertaining to all ages, I can't wait to go next year!

Can't believe I haven't written a review for this festival! If you haven't been to the Avocado festival then plan on it next year! I've been coming here for years, and each time is always fun aside from the parking nightmare. So get here early! The festival starts at 10am. I would recommend taking the train if the schedule works for you. I'm sure there are other parking lot options to make it easier but I haven't looked into that yet. The festival has tons of food vendors from Thai, Caribbean, Mexican, Chinese, etc...I have yet to try the avocado ice cream but one day I will. The only beverage they seem to have here is beer, but there are restaurants you can go to if you're looking for something else. Arts n Crafts vendors offer handmade soaps, lotions, jewelry, clothing, wind chimes, paintings, and much much more. They have ATMS stationed if you forget to bring cash but it will cost you $4! So plan on bringing cash but there are places that accept debit cards. Throughout the festival are 3 stages where you can listen to Live bands playing great music. From reggae, salsa, rock, old school, you name it they play it! The festival starts the first Friday of October every year, and runs thru Sunday. Saturday's are the busiest and most crowded so come with patience. Overall a fun festival to check out if you're an avocado lover.

It's okay but not as good as last year or 2016. The fest is feels too crowded now. Also, Where are the Avocado stands? It felt like 70% of the stands weren't even selling/showing Avocado based items anymore. While there were some avocado stands showing history and food, there's a lot of extra stuff that wasn't there last year or in previous years. Parking is not bad, you can get free parking across from highway 101 in their shuttle or park in the residential neighborhoods near Linden. Saturday is probably the most crowded time, with most people waiting in line and having to avoid people that block the path, it definitely felt overcapacity at that time. Still, there were some highlights. Some of the foods were good, albeit with fewer options than previous years. Fried Avocado with Shrimp was delicious and I highly recommend. The $5 Avocado Ice cream is still worth it. There's still the $10 Tri tip steak sandwich with guacamole. I guess if you like Avocados you'll definitely find the Avocado Festival to be your thing. I think that despite all of the addons, I still find myself stopping by for delicious Fried Shrimp Avovados even if I loathe the fest lol.

The 2017 Avocado Festival was mind boggling this year and bigger than I'd ever seen it before. This was also the first year I really felt the event was targeted towards more of a family demographic rather than adult oriented. I always come on a Sunday because that's generally when things start to calm down and many tourists head out of the area (sorry tourists!). This year's Sunday was a lot more crowded than last year though and had kid's running around the jam packed areas like it was Disneyland. I was happy to see so many activities provided for them and not as much focus on alcohol everywhere. While there was definitely a strong focus on avocado flavored foods, drinks, desserts, arts and decor, jewelry, and so on, I found the theme to be a little bit off topic in a lot of ways, as well. There were so many booths selling things that either were not made of avocado or representing it. Not to mention the lack of avocado purchasing options. Though this has been a reoccurring thing each year, so I expected there to be small amounts of actual avo booths. My favorite parts about this festival is seeing all the local vendors (like Jennifer Love Art and the Carpinteria Warriors food booth) and what they came up with creatively including avocados in their artwork and designs. I also love me a good taco with guac and, of course, avocado ice cream. This year the ice cream booth ran out of cones mid morning on Sunday so I ended up just running to Rainbow Ice Cream Parlor instead. Though it was more crowded and a little "off topic" feeling this year, I still loved being there, hearing the live music and shopping the beachy vendors. It has and will always be one of my favorite festivals of all time and I'm excited to see what changes they make next year to bring it back towards it's roots.

So I've read ALL of the past reviews of this festival and I have something to say (kick rocks, peeps, if you don't have the patience to read)...but I'm going to give it 5 stars and here is why: 1.) the town/location is perfect. CARP is a SMALL town with the event located right near the beach. Because it's a SMALL beach town instead of a LARGE beach town, there aren't so many rules when it comes to parking. You can almost park anywhere and walk. If you have to park a bit further and walk, no worries...you won't be walking too far. I LOVE IT. You can pay for parking, but why? 2.) I felt safe because of the heavy presence of security...and security who was spread out and watchful, but at the same time, super friendly. I was a bit apprehensive after the tragedy earlier this year with another festival, but nope. Thank you to the City of Carp for doing this. 3.) You don't have to go far for live music! They had several stages with back to back acts each and they were ALL GOOD! ALL WERE JAMMIN'! From the main stage to the smaller ones, let's go! 4.). Someone must have read old reviews that there wasn't enough avocado in the past years...and I personally feel that they've kicked up the avocado love for this one. I saw several vendors selling everything from avocado trinkets, to whole avocados, to all types of avocado food. The lines may have been long, but you can't complain about lack of avocado this year cause it's there. 5.) Even outside of the festival, the local breweries and restaurants lined up along the sides of the event are ready and prepared for you! So inviting. Some even planned their own things for the festival, so YOU ALL HAVE OPTIONS, NINJAS. 6.) And when you want a break from it all, walk up the street to the beach and take a stroll. I'm always here. I love this beach. So having both the festival and the beach was amazing. Island Brewing Co had a wonderful Reggae band playing in their courtyard and they were badass and incredible. This event is well planned/well thought out. Logistic-wise, it is one of the best festivals I've been to considering all of the factors that it takes to make a good festival. They score high on music and parking. I love it and hopefully in the years to come, you will, too.

If you love avocados, this is the festival for you! Chips and two humongous (and I'm talking very generous) scoops of avocado for $5, avocado ice cream for $5, trip tip sandwiches with avocado for $10, and soooo much more! Churros, cotton candy, lemonade, tacos, tamales. It's a good variety for everyone. Went with someone who was allergic to avocados and someone who doesn't like avocados and they both had more than enough to eat! There were also a lot of vendors selling arts and crafts. Admission is free so that's great and it's a quick walk to Carpenteria beach after. Looking forward to more festivals to come!

Avocado are everywhere here!! I love avocados so therefore I love this event. It's fun to walk around, try their beers, and all of the yummy avocado foods! We tried the Rincon Avocado Beer, the fried avocado with chorizo, the guacamole and we got the fried cheese too! Everything was so yummy!!! MY favorite thing we tried was the the fried avocado! I've never thought about doing that before and well it was SO good! I ALSO loved the beer so I ended up getting two. It's so much fun to walk around the event, enjoy all of the live music, and look all of the vendor stands too! This is a small event but still it so much fun every year! :)

First time coming here, on a saturday. It was pretty busy by 11 am. And by 2 ish, it was almost impossible to walk through. So it's best to come here early on. If you're lucky, find street parking within walking distance to this free Avocado fest! Just gonna put it out there, my disappointments first:I was disappointed with how crowded and little of a space it was. Little to no seating/tables. And the Deep Fried Guac was never ready, kept saying to come back in 30 mins---fail! And they ran out of sample cups for the Avocado cooking oils !! Darn. But depite these issues, I'm a big fan of anything avocado! I think they had a good amount of avocado food booths. But no harm in having more! Tried the following: +Market California avocado samples +Avocado chocolate truffles +Guac and chips +Avocado Honey Ale BEER +Avocado Teacakes (not too sweet, moist) +Avocado GELATO & avocado mango sorbet! +Fish tacos, avocado slices (SpencerMcKenzie's) -Non-food = Avocado lotion (oily) -Non-avocado = Crab garlic fries I LOVED the ice cream and sorbet. They were smooth and refreshing. Gelato was creamy, while the sorbet had a hint of mango (sorbet was my fav). Sooo good! I also enjoyed the truffle. They had 2 guac&chips booths (the world famous was stripped down pure guac, nothing else added while the other had a longer line but with tomatoes etc--i was too full to try the latter but the one i tried was pretty delish since the salty chips balanced the simple guac). The fish tacos were AMAZING. Shout out to Spencers. Everything was delish and tasty, but i should've just sampled the avocado beer. Light but could barely taste any avocado or honey (I ain't a beer connoisseur though). And the crab beer battered fries were undoubtedly delicious crispy fries, but the so called REAL CRAB meat was imitation! Not cool yo. Otherwise I'd definitely come back next year! With the hopes of more avocado dishes, maybe a more spacious venue?!

Couldn't go last year and luckily had time this year to attend. Came by with two other friends who likes avocados and although I'm warned it is a small festival, it was a bit larger than I imagined. However, I still think it's just an average festival. With the main selling point as an avocado festival, I imagined all the stands or vendors would have at least one avocado themed food. Several of them did not. This was off-putting to see since I would imagine the festival is just finding vendors to fill up spots and grow while not staying to the purpose of the festival. Aside from that, the avocado theme things I tried were the avocado beer, avocado tri tip sandwich, holy-guacamole with salted chips, avocado ice cream, and sampled the avocado cream pie. Kind of wanted to try the deep fried avocado, but I saw someone carrying it and decided that it wasn't worth it for that price. As a sum, the food is pretty much basic festival food. The only creative ones I liked trying were the beer, ice cream, and cream pie. The beer is IPA based and not overly hoppy - an easy to drink beer. Although, the cream pie and ice cream are overpriced for the amount given. I definitely wouldn't consider getting them another try due to the price point. The tri-tip was nice to have and enticing due to the smell, but it was just plain store-bought guacamole instead of freshly made guacamole. The holy-guacamole was severely overpriced for what it's worth. Other items such as elote (in a cup as well), hot dogs, tacos, fish tacos, and etc were sold as well. Avocado brownies were sold out unfortunately. There were two avocado sellers and they were severely overpriced. If you are fanatical about it, go for it, but I rather buy them elsewhere at more normal prices. There were goods vendors on site as well as a ferris wheel. There were several stages for live music and the festival itself spans 2-3 blocks. At the non-beach end of the festival, there was an educational booth about avocados where I thought should have been the main attraction instead of the food vendors. I enjoyed seeing all the different varieties of avocados and reading up some history. All in all, if you like avocados, you'll still come to check it out. Be ready for overpriced food and not enough seating of course. I definitely think 1-2 hour at most - depending on how large your group is and how willing you are to spend money to buy the food. I can't wholly recommend it as a popular attraction, but if you are close or visiting the area, it's worth a check. I wouldn't plan a trip with this solely in mind.

--Atmosphere & Parking-- Located in the city of Carpinteria. the festival in 2017 was in its 31st year. Making up what seems to be a good couple blocks or so the festival features lots of things from different foods (only a few avocado inspired unfortunately), arts and crafts, activities for kids, live music, vendors with various things to buy, and even some rides. Expect it to be fairly busy. I came here on a Sunday this year, and there were tons of people. The festival is FREE to get into, but for parking there are surrounding lots within the area charging a certain price like $10 at a local high school. If parking at the high school, there is a free shuttle that takes you to the entrance of the festival; the shuttle runs during certain hours like a 10am-6:30pm/10pm depending on the day. ---What the guac?-- Overview of what's in store-- Unfortunately, the festival is not very avocado inspired. For a theme, I think the theme needs to be taken into full consideration. Avocado inspired food items included the following pretty much: -guacamole and chips -avocado ice cream -deep fried avocado -a steak sandwich with guac - and a shrimp cocktail with avocado pieces -avocado brownies There were other types of foods and snacks but not avocado inspired - which I think they should be. And I didn't even see avocados for sale... Hm? So you'll definitely have an easy time with food if you're hungry. From tacos, to sandwiches, Indian food/Mexican, etc. What you'll find are a lot of different vendors selling things for your home, clothes, and even a couple treats. Some stores keep their shops open and they'll sell some avocado inspired clothing as well. The event is very family friendly with a few rides, rock climbing, face painting, music, and more. But to call it an avocado festival would be far from the truth. It's a nice event but I wouldn't go here for the love of avocados, you simply will be misled.

While at the festival this past weekend, we enjoyed the foot cart - Samba Brazilian BBQ combo plate and garlic fries (includes steak + chicken cubes). My husband loved this dish and wants to come back next year just to order some more. We also happened to walk by the newly opened Rori's Artisanal Creamery while at the festival and got some avocado ice cream! :) So delicious. We met Smokey the Bear, hung out with some police officers + firemen + got to decorate our own avocado.

I love the Avocado Festival! It's so fun to walk around and try all the yummy avocado foods. It does get pretty crowded on Saturdays, so I recommend coming Friday or Sunday. You must try Island Brewery's Avocado Honey beer, it is so good! Grab a beer, some guacamole, and find a spot at one of the three areas to watch the bands perform.

Very fun, very tasty, and supports great local causes too. The guacamole that the high school cheerleaders make is the best!

AVOCADO AVOCADO AVOCADO!!! Avocado beer, avocado ice cream, fried avocado, avocado hats etc. Great FREE festival. If you follow the signs for AVO Festival parking you will pay $10 for parking at the local high school. They have a shuttle for a quick lift to the festival. You can probably find closer parking for free around the festival area. The community really gets in the spirit. There were people with avocado shirts and skirts. A lot of people wore dark green, like the color of, you guessed it, AVOCADOS. There are a lot of venders for face painting, soaps, jewelry, clothes and of course food. Food venders sold chicken teriyaki, ice cream, shaved ice, beer, kettle corn, pizza, roasted corn on the cob and funnel cake. The strawberry cheesecake funnel cake was excellent. I also had the fried avocados. It's $5 for 5 small pieces of fried avocados. Not worth it but it was an experience. The atmosphere was very festive. There was at least 3 live bands playing different music throughout the festival. There's slot car racing and a giant ferris wheel. This festival has the biggest avocados I have ever seen and you can buy them. Very, Very cool festival!

So much fun but very crowded! We loved the fried avocados with shrimp, tri tip guacamole sandwiches, chips and guacamole, and avocado ice cream! Get there early to receive a bag and goodies at the California avocado booth! Lots of great vendors, music, and activities for children. Park at the high school for $10 and take their free shuttle right to the festival! Last day is tomorrow! Have a blast!

I'm getting old as I realized that I've attended almost all of these festivals over the last 31 years! Well, I love avocados and this festival is always a good time with family and friends! The food, music and vibe is what Carpinteria is all about...good times!

Carpinteria is a nice,quiet coastal town where you come to relax and get away from LA. At the Avocado Festival was quite the opposite. Very crowded. I go to all sorts of street fairs and this had the most people walking around or in lines. It was our first time at the fest. so we felt lucky that we found a parking spot on the street, a few blocks away (somebody was leaving). Otherwise, the streets are packed, they offer a lot for $10 and they have a shuttle service. The fest. goes for 3 days, the whole weekend, which is nice, we went on a Saturday. I love avocados, and apparently I'm not the only one. We got at the fest. around 1:30 pm and I was hungry. I wanted some fried avocado slices, they were not being sold at the regular food stands (later in the afternoon we spotted them outside a pizza place for sale, too bad, it was too late for us). I didn't want food (which was plentiful: Chinese, Greek, sausages, fish tacos w. avocados, etc) but a fan snack. There were 2 places that were selling chips and guac,one for $5, one for $6. The lines were huge. We got in one, it didn't move. So, we left. The line for avocado ice cream wasn't moving either. People weren't impressed with it. Huge lines,not many options to grab a quick snack. Island Brewery was selling Avocado Honey Ale Beer (for $6). We went directly to the brewery, where for $5 you could get the same beer in a bigger cup. The beer is good, I can't say I tasted the avocado. We grabbed some food from The Spot because I was starving and the lines at the festival had no end in sight. Otherwise, many stalls with merchandise- art, pottery, clothes, jewelry. Just one bakery and one chocolate place- we tried the avocado truffles (bit pricey), very tasty and melted in my mouth. I bought some mini avocados for home - 4 for $1 (just 2 stalls that was selling avocado-s, they were running out of them by the afternoon). I enjoyed browsing the tent with info about avocados, the regions they grow in, festival history. They had at least 2 stages with music playing, but not my cup of tea. But people enjoyed listening to various acts. Hard to browse and look around,many people, lots of them pushing strollers, if you don't like crowds, skip this. At some point we saw people getting in buses. So there were buses of people coming to the fest, literally. Don't come at the fest. on an empty stomach, prepare to stay in long lines, prepare to pay a lot for small portions of snacks and prepare to face the crowds. I love the idea of the festival, glad it's popular, there are some cute things to look at and enjoy, sometimes it could be fun, I wish it wasn't so crowded.

This was my first time visiting the avocado festival and I was so happy I got to experience everything avocados! From chips and guacamole to avocado smoothies there was everything you could imagine. They had live music and entertainment and hand made goods. You could even purchase avocado festival merch. If you don't want to drive, beat the traffic and take the train down to Ventura and it will drop you off right down the road from the festival!

it was first time in 4 yrs since we've been there my wife dropped my mother in law off so she could find a place to park when we got in Imsaw my coworker there going to work I found a shady spot for her till my wife got there I saw lots of people there having a good time having fun I wanted to ride the Ferris wheel which I did (twice) once with my wife the other with her goddaughter who wanted to ride it and I wanted too again she had so much fun I did have a avoale beer my wife and I had a $36 dinner which was actually good I had rib eye kebab rice and beans she liked the garlic fries and other stuff with it plus the music was great too we sat ate by rite aid and the band there had the 80's music going on. I saw a few former coworkers there too I got to talk with for a few minutes which was nice Told my wife we should plan on attending it agin next year

This was another great event this year! They had even more bands, more guacamole-inspired foods, and more vendors than last year. The only item we really missed was the deep-fried avocados. :( But, they added Spencer MacKenzie's fish tacos and tri-tip guacamole sandwiches this year! The event was definitely more organized this year. They had maps, better signage, more portable restrooms and a lot of roaming maintenance folks so there was never garbage lying around. Island Brewery had more Avocado Honey Ale on tap this year too and their own portable restrooms. Holy Moly Guacamole was better than ever. We'll definitely check it out again next year :)

Spur of the moment mini road trip. My husband read about the festival in some travel mag. I wasn't too enthused at first but figured I could pick up some recipe ideas. It's a nice little food festival. Not as many booths featuring avocados as I thought there might be though. Had a BLT with guacamole sandwich which was just awlright. $7 Bought some Halloween wreaths in one of the artisan booths. $5 each. Got a bottle of avocado oil. $10 Caught a very cool drum circle performance. Had some New Age-types in tie-dyed clothes asking to touch my hair. (I was in a good mood so why not.) Browsed through the shops that lined the streets in the area. Saw some cute dioramas made by local kiddies with dressed up avocados. Looked at, but didn't touch the prize winning big-ass avocados (2-3 lbs). Got some free avocado slicers, recipes & travel guides. Forced myself to use one the many port-potties. Got ticked off when I discovered I could have gone inside the Vons down the street. Hubby always buys festival T-shirts. $16 They gave us a free "go-green" shopping bag which was cool. It's a lovely (but windy) community & we enjoyed the visit. One complaint: On the website I looked up the directions on how to get there. The directions take you straight to a festival parking area. $10 which includes a trolley ride to the event. We figured to go visit the city's beach afterwards. So we drive towards the shoreline. We find free parking next to the beach. We look behind us. WTH?!? The back entrance to the festival was right down the block! Okay, they suckered us-Haha.

Love the really awesome art up at Island Brew Co. Www.lilplanets.com Overall, the place is packed, lots of families, food, music and booze. Everyone is friendly and picking up after themselves. Great food selection, lots of things are cash only but ATMs are placed strategically around Avofest! Having a blast!

We had a great time! We tried gucaomle and chips from a couple vendors along with avo ice cream and my personal favorite Santa Maria style "tri tip with guac" it's my 2nd year goin and I'm lookin forward to next year's event.. p.s the bands were good too!

Nice market feel with plenty of craft vendors and avocado samples and booths. It was a nice strool through and back. Have never atteneded so the music and beer tents were a good surprise. Overall it is worth checking out and parking was easy enough to find.

This was our first and last time attending this festival. It is called the avocado festival however it was more commercialized than focusing on the wonderful avocado! We did try the avocado ice cream - I did not care for it - had a powdery taste but the wife enjoyed it. She said it had a nice creamy texture and was good...just not good enough to want to go back. This festival seems very popular, as we were leaving there were a lot of people headed to the fair. It was not to crowded when we arrived at 10:00am but when we were leaving a couple hours later it was packed!

Great selection of so many varieties of avocados and products made with avocados! Live music, arts and craft vendors selling high quality local products, plenty of seating areas to enjoy a $6 beer plus amazing location just a block from the ocean and cool ocean breezes. The local restaurants with patios are also hopping along the perimeter of the event. Good time at a community event in Carp.

Carpinteria, CA. Well , this was the first time being in this town. It was a nice little town. I liked the Festival. The Festival was very informative. We bought food , then realized their was no where to sit, and eat. It seamed that people used the sitting area as a lounge area, or an area to hang out. Their needed to be a sign stating this area is for eating. Please be respectful, with your time here. Or maybe they could post on their flyer, bring a chair. That made it really odd. After all it was a music, and everything avocado food festival with no where to sit. I had brought my niece, and my mom. Their was a lot of empty chairs, and a lot of people saying you can't use that chair. So we left , and went to a local restaurant off of Santa Clause Lane. That was a great time, at the restaurant. It's the little things that make an event enjoyable. We had the best time that we could have, before it wasn't practical. Maybe if local restaurants did a directory stating avocado items , and where to get them, that would be great. I would have liked to try that avocado beer. Didn't see the fried avocado. I drove a long way to get here, it would of bin nice to get it all in.

This was my first time attending. I wasn't disappointed, though I think keeping my expectations in check helped. It's a fairly small sized festival, which I prefer. But it can be a problem during peak hours because who likes it when small areas get super crowded? However, despite the hordes of people, the lines moved relatively quick. Clean, well-organized, easy to navigate. There are several bands playing live music throughout the day to make it feel more festive. The important part -- FOOD! -- Avocados: wide selection, great deals! Bought 3 for 75 cents each. -- Guacamole: chunky and delicious. -- Chocolate avocado truffles: pricey ($3.75 for 2), but so good! -- Fish tacos: hit the spot. Again, pricey, but thats festival food for ya. -- Avocado Honey Ale: I'm not a beer person, so I didn't care too much for it, but I don't know where else you'd find it, so its worth tasting. -- Avocado brownies: only tried a sample of one, but I liked it. -- Avocado ice cream: yum! Creamy, sweet, with a subtle hint of avocado taste. -- Tri-tip sandwiches with avocado: took a bite of my bf's. It seemed good, and filling. -- Avocado tea cake: bought a loaf, and enjoyed it. Great for breakfast! Fun to attend with friends and most of all, for avocado aficionados who love seeking out novelty food adventures. I hope to come again!

Visited the California Avocado Festival on Sunday with a few friends. Most of us had a tri-tip guacamole sandwich, which had numerous layers of tri-tip, was very filling..a bit dry, but it had yummy guac! These I didn't get to try but looked delicious: guac nachos served with a HEFTY scoop of chunky guac. A plate of spinning spuds or yams. Sipped some avocado honey ale and was deceived by the suggestion that it was a sort of avocado-flavored beer. It contained no avocados-but the honey was from combs found in avocado farms.o_o One of the best things to taste and buy: the Avocado Tea Cake, very moist and made with a perfect balance of tea and avocado. Overall, I had a fun time in this little food festival in small town Carp!

We like to start off at Island Brew Company for really good beer before heading out into the masses and having crap offered at the festival itself. Live music, avocados and the beach. Love it. Basically the same vendors year after year and it's a bit small but I love it. Stay hydrated and yes you will get ticketed if you park illegally.

Seems like the event grows every year from the sound of the other reviews. I've gone to my share of festivals and the California Avocado Festival is very humble in comparison. It's a nice day trip and a great event for the entire family to enjoy. However, I was expecting more "avocado-ish" dishes. The festival did have avocado ice cream which was "no bueno". Granted, I did eat the entire ice cream, but one time is enough for me. I would definitely hit this festival up again to see how it develops.

It's getting stupid. It's not about avocados anymore. So many vendors selling all kinds of random stuff. It's so crowded that it's a battle just to walk up and down Linden to look at what the vendors are selling. The sea of people sort of carries you away with the currant. The food is still amazing. The music is also amazing. It's still worth battling the crowds to see The Upbeat every year. I also live 2 blocks away, so parking isn't an issue. For those that drive in, parking is kind of a nightmare. This used to be a festival for carp and SB locals, but it's morphed into something that's a little too big for our little town. I hope it's good for the local economy, but I didn't go this year because it was just too crowded. I missed The Upbeat, and that's saying a lot because I never miss them if I have the time and availability. I get there early (because I can walk from house) to sample the food... you need the whole weekend to eat all the food. I didn't stay long because there were too many damn people. It was uncomfortable. There's no real way to control capacity unfortunately. My advise is to get there early and take an Uber. You don't want to deal with parking. The food and music is still as great as ever, maybe even better, but if you don't like rowdy crowds, you will not be comfortable. I really want to give the avo fest a better review, but this is my honest opinion. 2016 - 2018. Maybe it will be better next year.

Just attended the fest last night. Friday is usually thought of as local's night and is a little bit more low key. Still it is a very small fest and you are only allowed to drink beer in a small restricted area. The highschool guacamole on chips was great as was the Lion's Club Tri Tip and Guac sandwiches. So at least I got my guacamole fix. However...... the focus of my visit was the mythical avocado icecream. I had heard about this strange "delight" for years and had always wondered what it tasted like. Low and behold a stand from ColdStones was selling this item. I eagerly purchased some for $5. TO my Surprise it was not green, perhaps it was only yellow tinged. It tasted like margerine mixed with low quality flavorless icecream. WAS THERE EVEN AVOCADO IN IT!??? I threw it away immediately. My husband claims it tasted like rotton movie popcorn butter. Other than the icecream disaster, one stand was selling actual avocados which were reasonably priced, $2 each or less if you buy more than one. They looked gorgeous and there was a Lamb Hass variety which I have never tried but looked like it was something special. There were lots of kids at the fest to include teenagers and some touristy older folks so I am sure you will fit in. But don't expect to spend more than 2 hours there and I wouldn't recommend it if you live far away from Carpinteria.

Delicious food, reasonable priced. The good sandwiches were around $7, worth it. Looking forward to the next Avofest on Oct. 4th.!

We try to attend Avocado Festival every year, definitely worth the drive from San Diego. Carpinteria is an amazing city, amazing event, and amazing people. Last year (2015) we had the Guac and Chips, not bad, but not too much Guac flavor. Tasted more like just avocados, so decided to skip them this year. Besides the line was crazy long. So for starters we had the shrimp avocado cocktail, 2 thumbs up. Very tasty. This year for the main course we decided to try something new, we picked the Brazilian booth. I don't remember seeing them before. We tried the Crab avocado garlic chimichurri fries. They were out of this world "Delicioso". Very generous amount, with the most amazing garlic fries I've ever had, they were crispy but not over cooked. They were smothered with some sort of Garlic Aoili, I went back and asked for extra Aoili and avocado chimichurri, I had to cut in line for that :) My girlfriend tried the Brazilian Ribeye Steak plate, pricey but worth every penny, it was high quality meat. (We understand, it's Ribeye) Tried it with the avocado chimichurri sauce as per the server's recommendation. Good job Mario, you're awesome. Spent the night in Carpinteria and headed back to La Jolla Sunday morning. That's it until next year. Adios

living in Carp by the time of the second one, '87, I think? It, like most other things over the past number of years has deteriorated: goods, services and products continue in a steep decline and prices continue to escalate! Ain't even stopped at this thing in the last few years!

I am cringing as I write this, because if there is anything I love more than festivals, it's avocados. So, when the news that they had been combined for a two-day fun-filled event, I was ecstatic. However, I am beyond sad to report that the California Avocado Festival in Carpinteria was a disappointing dream come true. Nightmare is a little too strong to describe this disaster, but just imagine what it feels like to go to a specific restaurant for a specific dish you've been craving, only to get there and hear that it's been taken off the menu or 86ed. Your mind, spirit, stomach, and mouth are all experiencing conflicting emotions and there is absolutely no coping mechanism to help you. I know, it's so shocking you don't even want to believe it, but this is how I felt. I love Carpinteria for its small, friendly beach community, but it's far and on any other day would have been worth the drive. I had roped four friends into accompanying me with promises of avocado-inspired fun. I felt absolutely horrible that I stripped them of an otherwise perfectly fine Sunday. Where were all the avocados? When I hear a festival is centered around one theme, I expect a Bubba Gump Shrimp shmorgasboard type setup. There were only two avocado dishes out of an entire festival that represented anything experimental... the beer battered avocado (it was good, but not worth a trip to Carpinteria) and avocado ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery that was gone by the time we arrived. Now, this is not to say there wasn't guacamole, there was, but only one stand offering it...yes, ONE. I mean, if there is any excuse to go buck wild with guacamole options, I would think it would be at an avocado festival. There were three different stages for live music (which would have been lovely if there had been other activities, or food, to keep our interest). Even the beer situation was underdone, and this is one area that almost every festival does right. All in all, I wouldn't recommend this event to anyone who doesn't live within 0-20 minutes of Carp. I really am tearing up as I write this. Such a shell of a shame.

FREE to get in, tons of stuff for children, two live bands, tons of great people, great time 10 stars

A very popular and "spirited" festival that has been increasing annually with attendance. Unfortunately, the lines have also increased for most of the "exclusive" food venders. Example: 45 minute wait for Avocado ice cream. Come on organizers ...adding another ice cream location won't spoil the pArty!

In my mind, this was suppose to be a huge carnival of avocado goodness. Like men dressed in avocado suits and helium avocado balloons sort of affair. My expectations were not met. Although I did partake in the worlds largest bowl of guacamole and the avocado ice cream made by Cold Stones. the whole festival was a bit lackluster. The CA Garlic and Asparagus festival kind of puts this thing to shame. Too many commercial vendors and artsy/craftsy booths. However, going to the festival did make a great conversation starter at the wedding my friend and I went to later on in the evening.

I attended the Avocado Festival three years ago and it wasn't nearly as big as it was this year. There was a variety of avocado items, for example, avocado ice cream, avocado body soap, avocado honey ale, guacamole, avocado smoothie, and avocado brownies. Unfortunately the avocado honey ale was not as good as it was 3 years ago maybe because it was a different vendor. I was fortunate enough to try the avocado ice cream this year (they sold out back in 2010), it was not that good. It tasted like sweet guacamole with hint of garlic... yeah, I know weird. I LOVE garlic, but this was just not good. What I did enjoy was the tri tip!! It was all I could ever ask for... a lot of meat and a dash of guac in a sandwich roll. My boyfriend loved it so much he had to get another and while waiting in line, he came across a sweet deal, a whole trip tip and a bag of rolls for 20 bucks!! The only downer was that there were no knives available for us to make sandwiches on the spot. All in all, I'd drive up again next year.

After wanting to attend this annual event for many years, 2014 was finally the year, but, unfortunately it was a disappointment. The event is several blocks long and ONLY ONE --yes ONE avocado merchant--and 99% of what they are selling are the ubiquitous HAAS avocado-- and priced higher than the local market! Also, after browsing all the usual "festival" types of booths, only ONE was selling novelty avocado jewelry. Majority of the food was sans avocado. Calling this event an "avocado" festival is a joke. A better name would something along the lines of "Carpentaria Fall Festival". If you're not a local, save the gas money and go to your local farmers market for a better avocado experience.