Knott’s Boysenberry Festival will feature over 75 dishes, treats and beverages

The culinary minds at Knott’s Berry Farm are coming up with ways to celebrate the boysenberry — the berry that helped Walter and Cordelia Knott expand their fruit stand on Beach Boulevard in Buena Park into a Wild West theme park.

Knott’s Boysenberry Festival, with runs from March 16 through April 8, will feature more than 75 different boysenberry-inspired treats, from boysenberry short ribs and boysenberry quesadillas to boysenberry pierogies, boysenberry sausage and boysenberry chicken wings.

“The culinary team works year-round, testing new ways to experiment with the boysenberry flavors and have, no doubt, created some unique but amazing flavor combinations for this year’s festival,” said Cherie Whyte, Knott’s communications director.

A variety of take-home items will be for sale in the park’s stores and restaurants.

The list includes a boysenberry bath and body line featuring soaps, lip balms, bath bombs and candles.

A new item, the Boysenberry Jelly Belly, is being introduced.

Along with food and specialty items, boysenberry-themed entertainment is also on the itinerary.

Snoopy’s Boysenberry Jamboree! will feature Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang in an interactive show at the Calico Mine Stage. Park visitors can also meet the Easter Beagle at Camp Snoopy.

An art show titled “Tied Up in Knott’s!” will celebrate the history of Knott’s Berry Farm through original art work in different mediums on display at the Wilderness Dance Hall throughout the festival. Many of the pieces will be for sale.

A musical comedy melodrama staged in the Bird Cage Theatre will feature a boysenberry twist.

At the Ghost Town’s Town Hall, visitors can learn the history of the boysenberry and how Walter and Cordelia Knott started the farm.

In the 1920s, Walter and Cordelia farmed 20 acres of rented land on Beach Boulevard in Buena Park.

Walter Knott is the first farmer to successfully harvest the boysenberry — a cross between a loganberry, red raspberry and blackberry, Whyte said.

“Today, every boysenberry in the world can trace their roots back to this land,” Whyte said.

The Knotts sold the boysenberries, along with jams and boysenberry pies, on the land that is now Knott’s Berry Farm.

Fried chicken dinners were added and became so popular that Walter Knott constructed a western-themed ghost town to keep guests occupied while waiting to be seated at the restaurant.

The Ghost Town went on to become one of six themed areas of Knott’s Berry Farm.

Knott’s Boysenberry Festival is open from 10 a.m. daily March 16 through April 8 at Knott’s Berry Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park. Tickets are $43-$79 and a tasting card is $30. For more information, call (714) 220-5200 or visit knotts.com/play/boysenberry-festival

Lou Ponsi is a contributor to Times Community News.