Strawberry Festival Poster Unveiled

As guests looked on between bites of very berry pork chops and cool strawberry chicken salad, California Strawberry Festival officials unveiled this year’s official poster on Wednesday.

Oxnard’s Casa Sirena Hotel hosted the strawberry soiree with dignitaries that included Oxnard Mayor Manny Lopez and official festival mascot Super Strawberry, a.k.a. Michael Racine, 51.

The vibrant poster--selected from 25 submissions--is an impressionistic watercolor of a trumpet, wine and the festival’s namesake fruit by native Londoner Sally Bookman.

Crayons that symbolize the fete’s traditional focus on arts and crafts are also pictured.

The musical instrument rests on a piece of sheet music titled “Imagine.”

“This [poster] kind of speaks to the sophistication and to the family orientation of the event,” said Bill Garlock, festival manager.

“We’re trying to tell [festival-goers] it’s a combination of music, family activities, strawberries and there’s as much fun as you can imagine.”

Sumiko Kato, chairwoman of the selection committee and the widow of the festival’s late founder, Tsujo Kato, pronounced the poster “fun and classy.”

About 3,000 posters will be printed. About 1,000 will be used for window displays in stores to promote the festival with the remainder available for purchase. The illustration will also adorn shirts sold at the festival, which will be held May 18-19.

Bookman, a resident of Northern California, will sign copies of her poster during the two-day strawberry celebration. Before the event, the poster is available at the Studio-Gallery at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.

The California Strawberry Festival is Oxnard’s largest annual affair, attracting tens of thousands of people each day to College Park’s Strawberry Meadows.