Walnut Festival

Friday-Sunday, September 19-21

Heather Farm Park, 500 San Carlos Drive, Walnut Creek

see website for details of schedule and tickets

http://www.thewalnutfestival.org/festival.php

“The non-profit Walnut Festival Association presents the 77th Annual Walnut Festival, a twilight parade in downtown Walnut Creek and three-day Festival. The Festival offers three days of family friendly entertainment with two stages of live music, a large carnival with more than 30 rides and 40 vendors, exciting games, car show, specialty food items, and a variety of beverages.

The first Festival held in 1911 was a celebration of the harvest of grapes and was called ‘The Grape Festival’. During prohibition, grapes were replaced with walnuts as the cash crop of the area and the vineyards became walnut groves. In 1936, the harvest celebration became known as The Walnut Festival. The Walnut Festival Association was officially incorporated in 1938 and except for a suspended period during World War II, has been celebrated as the popular annual community event it remains today.

As Walnut Creek as grown, and suburban developments have replaced walnut groves, the Walnut Festival Association has maintained the tradition of producing fundraising events for the benefit of the community. Locations for the event have changed over the years from the center of town to Civic Park and finally, in 1976, to Heather Farm Park, where is is now held the third Thursday after the first Monday in September.”