Artichoke Festival returns to Monterey Fairgrounds on July 24-25, 2021, with renewed focus on Local Food, Fun and Entertainment

2024-04-17 07:47:55 Art & Entertainment

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With a renewed focus on local food and entertainment, educational agricultural activities, and fun for all ages, the Artichoke Festival returns to the Monterey County Fairgrounds on July 24-25, 2021, with one promise ? ?Thistle be a Good Time!?

Monterey, CA, June 29, 2021 ? With a renewed focus on local food and entertainment, educational agricultural activities, and fun for all ages, the Artichoke Festival returns to the Monterey County Fairgrounds on July 24-25, 2021, with one promise ? ?Thistle be a Good Time!?

Following a year of shelter-in-place restrictions and social distancing, the festival is eager to celebrate the region fondly known as ?the Artichoke Center of the World.?

With the 2021 theme promising fun for all ages while celebrating the famous thistle, the 61st annual event expects to host at least 8,000 visitors over two days.

California residents are invited to join in the fun, confident that current safety and social distancing protocols will be followed. Advance festival admission tickets will soon be available at www.ArtichokeFestival.org and at the door, ranging from $15 for adults; $5 for youth 6-12, $10 for active military and seniors (62+). Children under 6 are free. Special early-bird ticket packages will be on sale until July 10.

Back on the menu for 2021 are gourmet artichoke dishes, with products supplied by the region?s top growers. Artichokes will be prepared in a variety of ways, including: fried, steamed, grilled, and in unique forms such as lumpia, burritos, sausage, cupcakes and even ice cream.

There will be daily cooking demonstrations with local chefs, who will showcase the artichoke?s versatility and unique cooking techniques.

The first three chefs confirmed so far for the daily Chef Demos include Chef Daniel Elinan, Executive Chef at The Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel & Spa; Eduardo Coronel, Executive Chef of Rio Grill in Carmel; and Chef Ivan, part of the Culinary Team at Tarpy?s Roadhouse in Monterey.

This year?s Chef Demos will be hosted by Partnership for Children, which has been providing transportation to medical care and family support services for children with life-threatening conditions living in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties since 2007. Partnership for Children?s transportation and financial assistance programs increase access to compassionate care for children on the Central Coast. For more about Partnership for Children visit their website at www.partnerforkids.org.

The festival is also looking for chefs who would like to demonstrate their creative artichoke recipes at the Artichoke Festival Chef Demos. Interested chefs can call Jennifer Ramirez at 831-422-3002, or send her an email at Jennifer@partnerforkids.org.

Families and festival-goers will enjoy the world-famous farmers? market, sponsored by Ocean Mist Farms, the largest grower of artichokes in the U.S. New this year are an ag education exhibit and a hot rod car show. Other popular features returning this year are arts and crafts vendors, the artichoke harvest and artichoke eating contests, an artichoke themed quilt competition, and more.

The Artichoke Festival has plenty of fun for the whole family, including lots of artichoke dishes, chef demonstrations, entertainment, competitions, arts and crafts, and family-friendly activities.

Fresh from the Fields
Visitors will enjoy a world-famous farmers? market that offers freshartichokes, along with other seasonal produce such as asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, corn, peas, fennel, green onions, leeks, mixed lettuce, rapini, spinach and so many other fruits and vegetables, at prices that can?t be beat.

Enjoy special delicious dishes from the Artichoke Food Court, made with artichokes harvested in Monterey County. From appetizers to dessert, this is how you do chokes: fried baby artichokes, grilled and steamed artichokes, barbecued artichoke sausage sandwiches, artichoke burritos, artichoke lumpia, artichoke soup, and artichoke cupcakes.

For more information on this year?s festival, visit www.artichokefestival.org.

Contact:
Marci Bracco Cain
The Buzz PR LLC
Salinas, CA
(831) 747-7455
http://www.artichokefestival.org