Harvest Festival Grows Into Birthday Bash

Beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, Irvine will change its image from a quiet master-planned community to a party town.

That’s when residents here will start celebrating the 22nd annual Irvine Harvest Festival and the city’s silver anniversary at one big bash in the vacant lot at Barranca Parkway and Harvard Avenue, next to City Hall.

Festival organizers have allowed the city to include the 25th birthday celebration with this year’s festival theme “Irvine . . . the Good Ol’ Days.” The festival dates back to 1974 when Irvine was a farm community and people gathered at the start of each fall to celebrate harvest’s end.

Organizers expect 30,000 people to attend the three-day party, which features carnival rides, food and game booths, live entertainment on three stages, a crafts fair, a petting zoo, pony rides and an exhibit displaying photos and memorabilia about Irvine’s past. About 22,000 people attended last year’s event.

“Birthdays provide us with a snapshot in time,” said Councilwoman Paula Werner, who helped plan the city’s birthday party. “It’s an opportunity to celebrate who we are, where we’ve come from and where we are going.”

For 10 months, residents have worked to raise $180,000 to stage the festival, said Dick Fisher, president of the Irvine Harvest Festival Foundation.

“This event is totally run by volunteers. Not one cent of tax dollars goes into it,” he said.

About 125 nonprofit groups will set up booths at the festival to raise money for causes ranging from high school football uniforms to Boy Scout camping trips. “It’s a chance to support all these community groups that desperately need money in this tough economy to run their programs,” Fisher said. “And it’s a great opportunity to see friends that you don’t see on a regular basis and enjoy foods from the many cultures that make up the citizenry of Irvine.”

The foundation, also a nonprofit organization, will use proceeds from the event to award college scholarships to Irvine high school graduates or Irvine students planning to transfer from community college to four-year universities.

Discounted tickets can be purchased today from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Barranca Parkway and Harvard Avenue. Discount tickets are $4 for admission and $12 for unlimited carnival rides. Tickets at the door will be $5 for admission and $17 for rides.

The festival will be from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday; 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Information: (714) 552-7336 or https://www.scweb.com/ihf