Beloved Artichoke Festival Closing for Good After 65 Years
A beloved food festival is closing after 65 years.
According to SFGate, the event is the "most famous food festival" in Monterey County, California, and it's existed for more than six decades. Now it's closing "permanently" in 2025 and going forward, the newspaper reported.
It's the Monterey County Artichoke Festival, which has been attended by thousands of people each year. The popular festival once crowned "artichoke queens" and hosted celebrity chefs. In fact, in 1948, Marilyn Monroe was named California's artichoke queen, although the festival designed to elevate the same agricultural product launched 11 years after that.
About "two-thirds of artichokes consumed in the United States are grown in Castroville," CA, where the festival started, according to The Mercury News.
The festival announced on May 9, 2025, that it was closing "its doors" for good in a lengthy statement on its website.
"With deep gratitude and heavy hearts, the board of directors of the Artichoke Festival announces the official closure of the beloved annual event," the statement reads. "After 65 unforgettable years celebrating the region’s agricultural heritage, artichoke royalty, and community spirit, the Artichoke Festival will not return in 2025."
The statement blamed "the growing financial strain caused by increasing event production costs, insurance premiums, permitting requirements, and operational challenges that have made it no longer feasible to continue."
The festival began in 1959 "as a local celebration of the Central Coast’s most iconic vegetable" and "blossomed into a treasured tradition, bringing together families, farmers, chefs, volunteers, artists, and visitors from around the world," the statement says.
"Through changing times and locations, the festival has remained true to its mission: to honor and promote local agriculture, educate the public about the unique qualities of artichokes, and support community nonprofits through proceeds raised," it adds.
“Ending the festival is one of the most difficult decisions we’ve ever had to make,” said the Festival Board, in the statement. “But the financial realities we now face are insurmountable. We want to extend our deepest thanks to the sponsors, volunteers, vendors, growers, and loyal guests who made every festival possible. Your support sustained us for more than six decades.”
Linda Scherer, Executive Director of the Artichoke Festival, added in the statement: "This festival has been a labor of love for so many of us. Watching it grow from a hometown celebration to a regional highlight has been one of the greatest honors of my life."
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