The California Avocado Festival is gearing up for three days of peace, love and guacamole – edhat

There will soon be an avo lanche in Carpinteria – the epicenter of avocados in California. The 38th annual California Avocado Festival is upon us and is ready to put the spotlight on the California avocado while adding some new twists to the decades-long tradition of “Three Days of Peace, Love and Guacamole.”

Avofest 2024 is scheduled to take place Friday through Sunday, October 4-6, on Linden Avenue in downtown Carpinteria. The opening hours of the festival are Friday, 1 p.m. – 10 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m

***BELOW: SEE HIGHLIGHTS AND AVOFEST 2024 BY THE NUMBERS***

Expanded youth area

A partnership with Roll n Rock enabled a new focus on youth activities at the festival. Local bands will perform on the youth stage, and the Boys & Girls Club will also be hosting an Avofest first-ever youth dance party on Saturday, October 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. on the youth stage. Officially it’s called “Glowcado Groove Youth Dance Party.”

Kicking off with Locals Night on Friday

The opening ceremony begins on Friday, October 4th at 5:30 p.m. Then this year's honorary chair, Francis Brand, will balance an avocado on the seal's head at the Seal Fountain Plaza in the 800 block of Linden Avenue. Join the downtown tradition alongside local dignitaries who will give their blessing to the opening of Avofest 2024.

Special events – Saturday and Sunday

Saturday lunchtime – The Avocado Strong Arm Contest determines who has the strongest avocado arms in the world. Register and attend Seal Fountain Plaza.

Sunday lunchtime – The Guacamole World Championship Contest will be held at noon Sunday at Mac Brown Grotto. Coinciding with the Guacamole World Championship competition on Sunday, this year's largest auctions for avocados and avocado trees will take place. Proceeds support the Carpinteria High School Future Farmers of America.

AVOFEST BY THE NUMBERS

The estimated attendance at Avofest is 40,000 people.

75 vendors will be on-site with food, art and other unique goods, including tasty dishes and new variations of the diverse, delicious and nutritious California avocado.

72 bands will play on 4 stages during the 29 hours of Peace, Love & Guacamole.

250 volunteers make Avofest work by serving beer, selling t-shirts and more.

3,000 pounds of avocados are mashed into the world's largest guacamole container, made and sold by the Carpinteria High School cheerleaders.

As a community benefit festival, Avofest supports three college scholarships and donates $1.5K to the Warrior Pool Foundation and $5,000 to support Future Farmers of America.

California harvested 350 million pounds of avocados between February and September this year.

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