A Bounty of Berries : Strawberry Festival Draws Crowd of 30,000 to Oxnard

It was the unofficial center of strawberry debauchery--the make-your-own strawberry shortcake tent at the 12th annual California Strawberry Festival.

All around, it was a strawberry glutton’s paradise, and the possibilities were gastronomical. The selection of food, music and crafts was Gargantuan--and the estimated 30,000 in attendance at College Park seemed to savor it all.

But inside the tent, things got serious. There, hundreds of visitors put their personal touch on the classic treat, slopping strawberries and whipped cream onto pieces of poundcake like starved soldiers.

Marc and Shari Pollock of Encino made their way through the tantalizing booth with remarkable restraint, building humble shortcakes as their twin 4-year-olds, Jacob and Noah, tried to dip their fingers into everything.

“We can’t wait to get our faces in the strawberries,” Shari Pollock said, putting aside her creation until the family exited.

But little Noah lacked her restraint. He picked up a plump, dark red berry and slid the entire thing into his small mouth as juice oozed from the side.

“Good,” he said, a ring of cream around his lips.

Frank Haywood, a teacher in Oxnard College’s hotel and restaurant program, which was managing the tent, estimated that festival-goers would consume more than 800 gallons of whipped cream, 22,000 loaves of pound cake and about five tons of strawberries from his booth by the end of the two-day event today.

“Everyone’s different,” Haywood said, rationalizing the popularity of the tent, back for the ninth straight year. “Some people like more strawberries. Some people like more cream. Some like to make a sandwich out of the thing. People show their individuality in here.”

Others chose more vocal ways to show off.

Helen Nivar said the largest venue in which she had sung before Saturday was the shower of her Northridge home.

But at the festival’s first-ever karaoke contest, the 23-year-old shamelessly let it all hang out, singing a spirited rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” before hundreds of people.

“I just said, ‘OK, I’m going to get up and sing in front of people,’ ” Nivar said afterward, sitting with her girlfriends. “I was embarrassed, because I didn’t realize there were so many people. But they were with me.

“It was a big change from ‘Achy Breaky Heart,’ ” she said, referring to a previous performer.

Thankfully, the real musical entertainment was left to the pros, as a diverse lineup of musicians performing everything from salsa to folk played short sets at the three stages throughout the festival grounds.

Junior Walker & the All-Stars and the Robert Cray Band, Saturday’s headlining acts, played to the throngs of people sitting on the lawn at the Tsujio Kato Amphitheater.

The mood was more somber during the opening ceremonies as local leaders remembered Kato, the former Oxnard mayor and founder of the California Strawberry Festival who died in February.

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez and Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard) presented Kato’s widow Sumiko with plaques honoring her husband. Another plaque was unveiled dedicating the amphitheater to Kato.

Speakers praised the late mayor for his diligence in guiding the Strawberry Festival from a small-time event at Oxnard’s Plaza Park into a fete renowned throughout the state.

“He represented all the things that a leader should,” said Ventura County Supervisor John K. Flynn, who co-chaired the event with Kato from the beginning. “He was one of the greatest leaders in the history of Ventura County.”

In Strawberryland--the children’s area--youngsters frolicked in the petting zoo, had their faces painted to match their favorite adventurer or super hero, and dipped their hands in colored wax to create funky casts.

Adam Wylie, the 10-year-old actor who portrays Zack Brock on the Emmy Award-winning “Picket Fences,” signed autographs for his fans.

And two cast members of “Blade Warriors,” a roller-blade television show, put on a doubles performance, pirouetting to dance music and performing acrobatic stunts as a crowd of children gasped. One did a barrel jump over several children and adults, barely landing past the last one.

Visitors perused the more than 260 arts and crafts booths that were selling everything from pastel-colored children’s clothes to elaborate handmade wood and copper fountains.

For some visitors, the spectacle was a pleasant surprise.

Cathy Luxemburg of Agoura came to Oxnard on Saturday in search of a beagle, not strawberries. But after visiting a local dog pound, she felt compelled to stop by the festival to see what the fuss was about.

“We didn’t know what a big deal this is,” Luxemburg said, as her 3-year-old daughter spun in dizzying circles to Latin jazz. “This is pretty wild.”