California Strawberry Festival 2026

The California Strawberry Festival celebrates its 40th year on May 16 & 17, 2026, at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, 10 West Harbor Blvd. The festival is a family-friendly event featuring strawberry delights, arts & crafts booths, live entertainment, contests, and carnival rides. Weekend event hours are Saturday and Sunday 10:00am – 6:30pm. The non-profit festival draws more than 50,000 attendees and has raised more than $5 million to fund four postsecondary scholarship programs and weekend fundraising opportunities for more than 30 local non-profit groups.

Applications are open to creators of quality handcrafted, small batch products made in the USA by the artisan selling their works. Applicants selected will showcase their individual perspective in unique, unusual and/or unexpected ways with good creative design. Not accepted: buy/sell, imports, kit-based, mass-produced items, work not made by the applicant(s), books, body art, permanent jewelry, toys that are weapons. Items involving weapons, nudity, or sensitive wording may be declined to maintain a family-friendly environment. No booth sharing except married/significant-other partners. Two artists may request adjacent booths (each applies separately). A representative may sell with prior approval.

Applications can be submitted through Zapplication.org ($25 application fee) or pacificfinearts.com ($15 application fee). Mandatory set-up is Friday, May 15, with arrival between 9:00am - 5:00pm. Booth spaces range from 5dx12w to 10dx20w on concrete, asphalt, or indoor locations, with fees from $200 to $800 with no commission. Overnight security is provided Friday night through Monday morning, and free overnight parking is available for self-contained vehicles Thursday night through Monday morning. Tear-down time is available Monday morning. Cancellation policy: March 16 - April 5, PFAF Credit Slip given minus $50 per cancelled space; April 6 - Show, space fee is forfeited.