OXNARD : Festival to Expand Handicapped Access
Organizers of the annual California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard have announced plans to expand access for wheelchair users at next year’s event.
The festival’s executive committee last week adopted several suggestions offered by a citizens panel to make it easier for those using wheelchairs to attend the two-day celebration.
Beginning in 1993, the festival will have a separate wheelchair ramp for buying tickets and 10 to 14 curb ramps, allowing wheelchairs to roll into the fair site, officials said. A number of arts and crafts booths will be placed along a paved driveway to allow access to those exhibits. An additional parking area for handicapped visitors will be created across from the ramped entrance to the festival.
“We focused on concerns and suggestions from several individual in wheelchairs who attended last year’s festival,” said Don DeArmond, chairman of the citizens’ panel.
Several wheelchair users complained after this year’s festival in June, saying the fair’s new site at College Park near Oxnard College was not accessible to them. Festival organizers formed the panel to address those complaints, officials said.
Next year’s festival will be held May 15 and 16.
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