Citrus Festival Is No Lemon Even if It Lacks Citrus

It could have been called the funnel cake festival. Or the dripping taco festival. Or the lots-of-really-fun-games festival.

Santa Paula’s 33rd annual Citrus Festival had only one booth devoted to citrus. And that booth had a few stray crates of oranges, some fresh-squeezed orange juice and citrus-flavored Sunkist candies. Even the trash cans said “Strawberry Festival.”

But the hundreds of visitors who took to the town’s Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday didn’t seem to mind. They had come for the funnel cake, the games and the fresh air. Not the nonexistent lemon pie-eating contest.

“We didn’t expect any citrus anyway,” said Emery Walker, 52, who inhaled juicy tacos with his wife, Helen. “Oranges and lemons aren’t a summer crop. We come to Santa Paula for the Mexican food.”

Even though the festival was named for the fruit of the numerous orchards that stud the area, the Citrus Festival has always been more about the town’s heritage than an actual celebration and enjoyment of lemons, limes and oranges. It’s also a moneymaker for the sponsoring organization, the Kiwanis Club.

“We’re the citrus capital of the world and we’re capping off the whole year,” Kiwanis President Bill Grant said. “We admire them while they are still on the tree. It’s not time to pick them yet.”

Grant admitted the Citrus Festival has seen more robust years. “Our heyday was in the ‘60s and ‘70s, when all the service clubs made their money for the year at this festival,” he said. “We’re trying to rebuild and go back to that point.”

This year’s festival had 39 booths, he said, up from only six the year before. Last year, the festival raised $3,000 for the Kiwanis Club, while 20 years ago it raised $25,000. Grant said he is hoping to bring in $10,000 this year.

From the look of things Saturday, they were off to a good start. By 1 p.m., the park and one street block in downtown Santa Paula were teeming with families and older people sharing picnic tables, buying tickets for rides, and cuddling fuzzy ducks and rabbits in a petting zoo.

Pam Colvard, the event’s coordinator, said the carnival rides had been busier on Friday night than during any other year.

Melissa Macias, 26, was at the festival with her mother, Cynthia, and her two cousins. “We’re baby-sitting,” she said. Sabrina Garcia, 3, and Briana Garcia, 4, were taking turns throwing little, bouncy balls into cups floating in water.

They went through dozens of balls without winning a thing and disappointedly tramped off to play a sure-win game in which the girls dangled a fishing pole into the mouths of rotating, snapping fish. The color of the fish corresponded with the type of prize to be won.

Within seconds Sabrina had won a tiger and Briana a dog. Delighted, they trekked back to their favorite ride--the carousel--to ride again. “They love the rides and the games,” Macias said.

Jeanette Porter from Camarillo shared a funnel cake topped with stewed apples and cherries with two people at her table. It was her first funnel cake experience.

“It looks like they make them like French fries,” she said, commenting on the deep-fried dough. She didn’t mind not having lemon pudding atop the delicacy. “This is a new experience for me,” she said as she scraped her paper plate to get every last bit.

The three-day festival continues today at Veterans Memorial Park, at Ventura and 10th streets, from noon until 9 p.m. Johnny Jacinto & Friends will provide musical entertainment at 2 p.m.

Proceeds will go to area nonprofit organizations, including the sponsoring Santa Paula Kiwanis Club as well as the Rotary and Optimist clubs. Books of 20 tickets for the carnival cost $14 at the festival.