The Madera Pomegranate Festival
I’ve always wanted to go to the Madera Pomegranate Festival (www.pomegranatefestival.com) but something always comes up. Usually the issue is because it’s the first weekend in November. It typically conflicts with my husband’s military drill schedule, so I end up not going.
This year, I committed to writing about my experience for FresYes. This was HAPPENING. Yay! However, in an overly optimistic moment, I had committed to review the Garden Cocktails pop-up at The Standard the night before.
Not to incriminate myself TOO much, I’ll just say that we got off to a late start. But I was determined. Had to get up and go!
And I’m so glad we did. The Madera Pomegranate Festival reminded me of the way the Gilroy Garlic Festival used to be, back before it got huge.
On the way in, a very sweet young lady handed us a balloon that she was through with because she felt my not-quite-two year old would appreciate it more. (She was right, he was thrilled!)
The entire event kind of struck me like that. Very family oriented, busy but not too crowded, and everyone was very friendly and accommodating.
The Madera Fairgrounds are a great venue, with an endearing small-town feel, plentiful parking, and thankfully, a ton of shade. Admission was free, and there were t-shirts and other Pomegranate Festival merchandise available for reasonable prices right inside the entrance.
There was really a lot to see, with big bins full of ruby fruit, many many pomegranate based products available for sale, and plenty of pomegranate cooking demos to observe. I now know how to make an excellent pomegranate cocktail!
Beyond pomegranates, there was a ton going on. An excellent blues band played while I was there, there was a car show, lots of vendors, and of course, a plethora of food booths.
We really enjoyed the dance performances by local Madera dance troupes, as well as the karate demos from the Tumbling Tigers. Even the littlest ones came out to break some Styrofoam boards, which was a lot of fun.
We made the rounds, making sure to check out displays from local businesses and organizations like Madtown Robotics (thebluealliance.com/team/1323) and the Madera County Fossil Discovery Center (maderamammoths.org).
There was also a huge area dedicated to children’s activities. Multiple bounce houses, carnival games, and access to several different art projects kept kids busy and happy for a fun afternoon.
The verdict- great family venue, lots to do and see, not too crowded, friendly people, and in case you didn’t know, pomegranates are delicious. We will definitely be back next year!
I was born in Fresno and grew up here, as did my husband and my parents. I'm thrilled to be raising my young son here too! I've gone away for school and spent brief periods in other parts of California, but have always ended up homesick for my hometown.
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