Spring is when Knott’s Berry Farm bursts with the purple-ish berry rooted in the property’s history.
This year’s Knott’s Boysenberry Festival, which opened March 13 and runs through April 12, offers more than 100, mostly new, boysenberry-filled food and drink items.
“I’ve been here seven years. When I first got here, I think there was six [items],” said Laura Brubaker, vice president of food and beverage for the theme park. “I grew it to 20 within the first year … After 20, I said, ‘Well, we can add drinks.’ We can do more desserts, and then it grew to 40, and now, the last three years, I’ve been doing at least 60, 70, 80 items. So, yeah, we just think out of the box.”
Brubaker said when it comes to boysenberries, the feeling is, why not?
“Why not put the chili on the funnel cake?” she said, referring to this year’s funnel cake with boysenberry chili and boysenberry cream cheese. “So, we do it.”
A cart is laden with themed souvenirs at the Boysenberry Festival Crafts Fair in Ghost Town.
(Jessica Peralta)
Just the Boysenberry Festival Tasting Card alone, which is $55 and includes six tastings available from 11 locations around the park, includes a long list of boysenberry-enhanced options.
“We do boysenberry — whether it’s in a tortilla shell or it’s in the brisket or it’s in the bread bowl with a boysenberry butter and spaghetti,” Brubaker said.
For example, the Gold Mine Trail Booth features spicy boysenberry bulgogi over steamed rice with green onions, boysenberry BBQ meatballs over mashed potatoes with green onions, boysenberry beef brisket over mac and cheese, and boysenberry sauteed mushroom with creamy vegetarian orzo, just to name a few.
Wilderness Dance Hall’s drink menu is expansive, including everything from boysenberry and kiwi lemonade and the boysenberry Dippin’ Dots Sprite float to the sweet cherry and boysenberry bourbon slush, creamy buttered toffee cocktail with boysenberries, and the berries and cream margarita.
“If you come in here to Wilderness Dance Hall to do the craft beer, we got a couple of fun items that you can have with it,” Brubaker said. “Whether it’s the boysenberry popcorn, the boysenberry bacon or a pretzel with the boysenberry butter, it’s just fun to walk around, have your beer and have some snacks.”
This year’s Knott’s Boysenberry Festival features more than 100 food and drink items incorporating the berry that put the Buena Park attraction on the map.
(Jessica Peralta)
Brubaker also pointed out the Reuben ball with a spicy boysenberry Thousand Island dressing, available at the Silver Bullet Booth, as one of this year’s big outside-the-box creations.
“It’s like a Reuben in a sandwich that’s in a ball, and it comes with a spicy Thousand Island,” she said. “It’s one of my favorites, it’s delicious.”
Beyond the food and drink options, the festival also includes an activity and entertainment lineup evoking boysenberry-themed fun.
Families can meet horses, goats, lambs and other adorable animals at Old MacDonald’s Barn, a tribute to one of the original farm attractions. Guests can learn some berry history at History of the Boysenberry Museum at Town Hall, and see “Tied Up in Knott’s” boysenberry-themed art show at the Factory Store. Visitors can also get some shopping done at the Boysenberry Festival Crafts Fair in Ghost Town, with boysenberry-inspired items from local craft vendors.
“Knott’s Preserved” at the Calico Mine Stage honors Knott’s Berry Farm’s heritage with music and dance.
(Jessica Peralta)
Vice President of Entertainment Payden Adams said Calico Park once again hosts the popular Boysenberry Fun and Games, including playful challenges for children and families. Children can even participate in their own Kids-Only Pie Eating Contest.
The Bird Cage Theatre is showing the Knott’s melodrama, “The Great Bank Robbery.”
“Filled with laughs, surprises and classic Knott’s charm,” he said of the show. “And of course, a festival tradition returns, the legendary Pie Eating Contest. Bring your appetite and join the most entertaining competition in the West for a chance to claim pie-eating glory.”
In the evening, guests can catch “Knott’s Preserved” at the Calico Mine Stage, which is a musical honoring the history of Knott’s Berry Farm and the boysenberry.
“Every year, our designers, writers and directors take a fresh look at our entertainment lineup to uncover new possibilities,” Adams said. “These creative conversations often spark exciting ideas, whether it’s enhancing choreography in our stage productions or refining scripts for our melodramas. Innovation is a constant part of our process.”