Hot Events Planned for Salsa Festival

The third annual Salsa Festival, featuring a carnival and the Pretty Pepper Baby Contest for the prettiest baby in the county, will be celebrated this weekend in downtown Oxnard.

The festival, open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, will also feature homemade salsas from local chefs and creative amateurs to be judged by salsa connoisseurs from the Ventura County area.

This year marks the first time organizers planned a carnival in addition to the live music, food tasting and art exhibits at the festival in Plaza Park.

The carnival will be open to the public Friday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We have been getting the word out all throughout the county,” said Jeffrey Greene, publicist for the festival. “The community has been working very hard to get people out here. This is an opportunity for the public to get involved with designing their own salsa.”

Greene said last year’s salsa recipes included concoctions made with fruit and cayenne peppers and a variety of tomatoes with thick and thin pastes.